Miserably long airport lines ease as TSA workers start to recoup back pay

By Holly Yan, Tami Luhby, Chris Youd, CNN

(CNN) — Abysmal wait times at airports dwindled Monday as Transportation Security Administration workers got their first paychecks in more than a month — apparently prompting fewer agents to call out.

Four-hour wait times that plagued some airports last week dropped to mere minutes as some TSA employees saw weeks of back pay pop up in their bank accounts.

One TSA worker in Houston said he’ll finally be able to buy the food, gas and medication he needs. Others hope to pay their missed rent before they get evicted.

But one TSA employee in Chicago said she still hadn’t been paid Monday morning, and others say they’re missing partial paychecks. CNN has reached out to TSA and the Department of Homeland Security for comment about when employees will receive all the pay they’re owed.

About 61,000 TSA employees have been working without pay since a partial government shutdown started February 14. Collectively, they’ve missed more than $1 billion in pay, leaving some unable to afford basic necessities. Some have been forced to take other jobs.

What this means for travelers

By late Monday morning, even the longest wait times at most major airports were less than 30 minutes.

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, an epicenter of last week’s misery, saw 75-minute security lines before dawn Monday. Several hours later, that number plunged to as low as 9 minutes.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport based on passenger traffic, travelers waited as little as 3 minutes.

The number of TSA officers calling out from work has improved in recent days. After 3,450 workers didn’t show up to work Thursday and 3,560 called out on Friday, the number dropped to about 2,800 Saturday, according to DHS data. Monday’s data will not be available until Tuesday.

But even with long-delayed back pay, the TSA workforce will not be the same. About 500 workers, or about 0.82% of total personnel, have quit since the partial government shutdown started.

And those remaining still face financial turmoil and uncertainty.

‘Our finances are ruined’

Aaron Barker, an Atlanta TSA officer, said he thinks the number of agents will keep dropping as workers grapple with fallout from missed payments.

“I do think that there’s going to be a mass exodus of officers,” said Barker, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 554.

“Officers have gone into debt. Credit has been shot,” he said. “Officers have been evicted. Cars have been repossessed.”

Some TSA workers have paid for basic needs by maxing out their credit cards — and incurring late fees they also can’t afford.

A TSA agent in Houston, who requested anonymity to protect his job, said he’ll be able to buy groceries and pay back the loans he took out. But he still hasn’t received all the back pay he’s owed. Another officer at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport said he received two full paychecks but not a partial paycheck he was expecting.

DHS said it would start sending employees their back pay Monday after President Donald Trump ordered the agency Friday to immediately resume compensating them. But some workers question the president’s directive, including whether they can expect to get their next paycheck in two weeks.

TSA agents have long been perceived as political pawns when lawmakers can’t agree on funding packages and parts of the government shut down.

“This is a natural disaster that was caused by Congress,” said Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA workers.

“Back pay is not going to address (the) systemic issues,” he said. In the past five months, “We have been shut down 50% of the time.”

Jones said it will be difficult for TSA agents to recover from the impact of this shutdown.

“The vast majority are devastated,” he said. “My colleagues, they’re like, ‘Our finances are ruined.’”

CNN’s Aaron Cooper, Pete Muntean, Steve Williams and Toni Odejimi contributed to this report.

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