The lingering dispute in Congress over funding for the Department of Homeland Security threatens to close some smaller airports if TSA agents continue to miss paychecks.
But for now, Derek Martin, executive director of Erie International Airport, said it’s business as usual at the local airport, and he doesn’t expect that to change.
“There have been no delays at the airport because of TSA not getting paid,” Martin said. “We haven’t had any lines or any other issues.”
Nationwide, there have been slowdowns at other airport, but no changes locally, said Martin, who estimates between 20 and 30 Transportation Security Administration agents work at the airport.
What happens if funding issues persist?
Although about 350 TSA agents have walked off the job across the country, Martin believes most will continue to show up for work.
“We can’t close the airport. That is illegal,” he said. “People are going to continue to show up for work.”
And if they don’t?
“It’s never been an issue at all. If they all walked off the job they would be fired like air traffic controllers were,” Martin said, referring to 1981, when President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers.
Martin, who was watching passengers board a Breeze Airways flight for Tampa, Florida, on the morning of March 18, doesn’t think it will come to that.
“I have not had any concerns for any of our departures,” he said.
Meanwhile, flights arriving in Erie from Charlotte Douglas Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, were all listed as being on time on March 18.
According to Charlotte Douglas International, the primary destination for Erie passengers, wait times at TSA security lines ranged from 10 to 20 minutes.
Other airports have been more seriously affected
According to a USA Today report, security lines at some airports stretched outside of terminals after TSA agents missed their first full paycheck last week.
Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News during an interview on “Fox & Friends” that some smaller airports could be forced to shut down.
“If this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports — particularly smaller ones if callout rates go up,” Stahl said, according to the USA Today report.
Funding for TSA has been held up as part of a larger dispute as Democrats in Congress have demanded reforms at the Department of Homeland Security after immigration enforcement officers killed Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in two separate incidents in Minneapolis.
