Houston Airport TSA Crisis: Arrived 5 Hours Early, Still Missed Flight

At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, a passenger who arrived at 2 a.m. for a 7 a.m. flight still missed their departure due to extremely long security lines.

TSA employees have not been paid for six weeks, leading to thousands of staff either calling out sick, reducing attendance, or resigning. At Houston Airport, only about half of the 37 security checkpoints are operational, while some TSA workers face difficulties commuting to work or rely on additional external support.

Transportation Security Administration personnel are being assisted in some airports by Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff, who help with duties such as ID checks and entry-exit security screening. However, since ICE personnel cannot perform X-ray and other critical screening tasks, long wait times cannot be fully reduced.