Yet more Spring Break misery as TSA delays cripple America… with one line running all the way down the STREET
Thousands of spring break travelers are braving the frigid temperatures in hours-long waits at a Baltimore airport as Transportation Security Administration lines stretch far beyond the terminal and all the way down the street.
Temperatures plunged to a chilly 39°F on Saturday as frustrated passengers arrived hours early in hopes of making their flights, only to be left waiting outside for extended periods – miserable and chilled to the bone.
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) advised its vacationers to show up at least four hours early for their domestic flights and five for international despite TSA securing funding yesterday.
Despite the advice, passengers are still missing their flights in droves, leaving them frustrated on the other side of the TSA line as they have to rebook their flights or go back home.
To make matters worse, delays were already plaguing Baltimore passengers as the airport was one of five in the area that were affected by the FAA ground stop the night before.
The ground stop was issued after a strong odor overtook the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, which looks after air traffic control in the area.
BWI’s Checkpoint A and B remain closed, while Checkpoint C is facing significant delays, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Travelers complained about the long lines that stretched out into the street and the cold temperatures.
The TSA line at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) stretched out into the street on Saturday
Traveler Kevin, from West Virginia, and his family missed their flight, despite showing up four hours early. Kevin said Congress was a ‘disgrace’ and blamed them for him and his family missing their flight
‘It’s freezing outside,’ Kevin, a traveler from West Virginia who showed up four hours early, told WBAL.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this, remotely like this. There’s babies outside, the elderly, people in wheelchairs, they’re freezing, they didn’t come to spend three hours outside.’
Kevin said Congress was a ‘disgrace’ and blamed them for him and his family missing their flight.
‘Your job is to serve the people, it’s not to divide us and to label us, this is [a] pretty basic service, and you’ve completely failed us…I’m embarrassed to be an American today,’ he told the outlet.
Catherine Minty spent three hours in the TSA line and said passengers got a ‘whole tour’ of the airport in the meantime, she told the outlet. The line stretched into the hallways, cafeteria, and the sidewalks outside.
Airport staff handed out water bottles and snacks to angry customers as they patiently waited in line, WBAL reported.
‘Don’t fly right now,’ Minty advised Americans. ‘I would’ve literally driven if I knew this was going to happen.’
BWI advised passengers to show up four hours ahead for domestic flights and five hours ahead for international
TSA lines may start to thin out going into next week as agents could start receiving their back pay beginning on Monday.
Agents have gone more than 40 days without pay since the partial government shutdown began.
President Donald Trump signed an executive action to restart payments to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers who have been left without pay for six weeks amid the partial government shutdown.
While the move will likely ease financial pressures on TSA agents and reduce the recent chaos at airports across the country, it will have no bearing on the ongoing shutdown.
The shutdown of Homeland Security will reach 44 days on Sunday, eclipsing the record 43-day shutdown last fall that affected all of the federal government.
The Senate passed a funding deal early Friday, but blowback from House Republicans came quickly.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, upon opening the chamber for business, accused Democrats of playing a dangerous game and said he needed to talk with fellow Republicans about how to proceed.
After a lengthy conference call, Johnson blasted the Senate’s action and announced that the House would be going a different route.
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Delays were also prevalent on Saturday after the airport underwent a ground stop last night for several hours
‘This gambit that was done last night is a joke,’ Johnson said.
Instead, the House on Friday night passed a bill to fund the entire department through May 22. The vote was 213-203.
Johnson said he had spoken with Trump about the House Republican plan and the president supported it.
House Republicans were livid that the bill passed by the Senate did not fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. Democrats refused to fund those departments without changes to immigration enforcement practices.
