Travelers planning to fly during the partial government shutdown are being asked not to arrive at the airport with four or more hours to spare, as doing so can reportedly cause delays and congestion.
The John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio issued a public service announcement declaring that arriving 90 minutes before a flight was the “sweet spot” to allow travelers enough time to get through security without causing congestion at the airport.
“Showing up too early creates those first-wave lines,” the airport said, asking that travelers “help us keep things moving.”
The message included a chart showing example departure times next to their ideal airport arrival times.
The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas has regularly asked passengers flying domestically to arrive two hours early and those flying internationally to arrive three hours early, but said there was no reason anyone needed to be at the airport more than four hours before their flights, the Washington Post reports.
“There is no need to line up more than 4 hours before your flight, as this causes congestion in the lines for those flying out sooner,” the airport said.
But messaging has been mixed. Some airports, like Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, asked travelers to arrive as early as four hours before their flights this weekend. Other airports reported few, if any, problems with crowds, especially after President Donald Trump’s executive order restoring TSA agents’ pay.
“Since President Trump’s issued an order to pay TSA officers on March 28, TSA officer call outs have dropped by roughly 30%,” Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told the Post.
The shutdown not only caused delays but also threatened to close some airports completely as TSA workers going without pay called out.
The workers getting stiffed in February and March were the same agents whose paychecks were withheld last fall during the then-longest government shutdown in the nation’s history.
According to a PBS News report, the callout rate at airports during the previous shutdown last fall was 40 percent, and almost 500 of the TSA’s nearly 50,000 agents quit during that period.
But now that the money is back, things are starting to return to normal. Some airports are now reporting smooth sailing. BWI told the Post on Tuesday that it was back to its “routine” operations. As of Wednesday morning, LaGuardia Terminal B’s security line had a four-minute wait.
According to Delta News Hub, most travelers at JFK International Airport are waiting around 10 minutes in security, while LAX travelers are waiting approximately four minutes.
Lines are almost certainly longer during peak periods, like the early mornings.
Travel expert Zach Griff told the Post that he has not run into any four-hour lines since the start of the partial shutdown, but warned that travelers should always keep up to date on news about their flights and airports to avoid potential hassles.
“You really have to stay on your game,” he told the outlet.
He also said that anxiety over potential complications is likely what’s driving some passengers to arrive at airports hours early.
“It is causing a lot of folks who end up deciding, ‘I don’t really care; I’ll just get there three hours early,’” he said.
