STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Transportation Security Administration officers have been working without pay. Congress let funding lapse for the Department of Homeland Security because Democrats and Republicans did not agree about immigration enforcement. Since then, there have been hourlong wait times at some airport security checkpoints. Although I have to admit when I've traveled in recent weeks, the TSA wasn't the problem. Thanks, guys. But we wanted to see for ourselves if things are bad at some airports. So MORNING EDITION producer Milton Guevara packed his bags and hopped on some flights.
MILTON GUEVARA, BYLINE: I have never traveled with the goal of getting in lines. My quest to find airport limbo started Wednesday afternoon at Dulles International, just outside Washington, D.C. I got in the regular security line, where there was only about 10 people in front of me.
UNIDENTIFIED WORKER #1: Hello.
GUEVARA: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED WORKER #1: Do you have your boarding pass?
GUEVARA: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED WORKER #1: Scan.
(SOUNDBITE OF SCANNER BEEPING)
GUEVARA: I walked right through in about 5 minutes. Shoes on.
UNIDENTIFIED WORKER #1: Thank you. Next, please.
GUEVARA: So, Dulles, pretty chill. Far from the long lines reported at other major airports.
UNIDENTIFIED WORKER #2: And, ladies, gentlemen, again, welcome to the boarding area. Flight 471, service to Atlanta. This flight is going to be completely full today.
GUEVARA: My next stop, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the busiest in the world. When I arrived, the line to enter security was a little longer than Dulles. But it still took only about 25 minutes to get through. Some travelers I spoke with said they had the same experience while others felt the lines drag.
GREG MORITZ: It was going very slow. Like, we did the CLEAR and PreCheck line. And it wasn't that long, but it was moving at, like, a crawl.
GUEVARA: That's Greg Moritz (ph) flying to Pittsburgh with his girlfriend, Sabrina Gonzalez (ph).
SABRINA GONZALEZ: There are absolutely less staff members. Like, you can definitely tell that.
MORITZ: Yeah. I mean, it has to be, right?
GONZALEZ: I wouldn't show up for work either if I wasn't getting paid.
MORITZ: Yeah.
GUEVARA: A nearby TSA officer told me, I just missed the rush.
SUZETTE: It was - what? - two-hour wait, in the end.
GUEVARA: Two-hour wait?
SUZETTE: Two-hour wait, Atlanta.
GUEVARA: When, like, today?
SUZETTE: Yes. About maybe a hour and a half ago, yeah.
GUEVARA: So I just missed the two-hour wait?
Suzette (ph) has worked for TSA for over two decades. She requested we only use her middle name because she is not authorized to speak to the media. She predicts, next week, lines will be even longer, since officers are missing another paycheck.
SUZETTE: The officers can't afford to come to work. Their gas is expensive right now, as you see. People have child care. You have mortgage that you have to pay. How can you afford to come to work? Where are you getting the money from to pay?
GUEVARA: Long security lines have been reported at other major airports like Denver and Houston. When I checked the MyTSA app, waits at Houston were 30 to 45 minutes long. Denver was about 15. It seems airports have gotten in front of the situation by telling travelers they need to arrive early in case of long lines. This message seems to have reached the Big Easy, where I was greeted at Louis Armstrong International Airport with live music...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) Music is and knows it always will be one of those things that life just won't quit.
GUEVARA: ...Which I enjoyed standing in line for security for 7 minutes.
JIM SUNYE: I flew right through, so I have no complaints.
GUEVARA: Jim Sunye (ph) is going home. He arrived at the airport 4 hours early because when he got here on Sunday, he saw massive lines for security.
SUNYE: And that's what put the fear of God in me. And I thought, all right, I'm going to get there early.
GUEVARA: Now he's killing time by zigzagging around the airport, which got me thinking, were the big lines reported a few days ago all about TSA being short-staffed? Or were travelers arriving last minute also a little to blame? I never got an answer. I reached out to TSA for comment about the fluctuating security lines and wait times I saw but didn't hear back. So I guess, at least on my trip, the longest lines I experienced were the ones I imagined.
UNIDENTIFIED FLIGHT ATTENDANT: We would like to be the first to welcome you to our nation's capital, Washington, D.C.
GUEVARA: Milton Guevara, NPR News, New Orleans, Atlanta and now back in Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.