Due to political wrangling and an unprecedented case of brinkmanship, parts of the US government have been shut down for nearly a month. As a result, TSA employees are not being paid currently (they will be) but mainstream media outlets have greatly exaggerated the worker shortage due to “sick-outs.”
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The Video from Atlanta
Everyone saw the video from Atlanta, a sped up tour through the snaking line of passengers awaiting security clearance. Yes, it went to baggage claim. Yes, it took an hour. Sick-outs, a union protest tactic (a soft form of striking), have affected several major airports such as Dallas, Charlotte, Houston, and Miami.
The amateur video from Atlanta caused news crews to dispatch to the terminals to capture the sheer madness of it all but none have been as sensational as those first images and video appeared. On Wednesday, live coverage on CNN of the TSA Shutdown effects on travelers featured an empty security line behind the reporter.
Quick! Everybody Panic!
My father, God rest his soul, flies about 25,000 miles per year in a mix of leisure and business travel (for those that are so terribly offended by my tongue-in-cheek use of this phrase. The reference comes from the film Christmas Vacation in this clip about Griswold’s wife who is also, not dead). When my father calls me with a travel story/concern, I know that the news has made its way to the average person, and technologically inept. He called to ask about the best tactics to get through security faster departing Atlanta. We discussed options, I sent him a handy link that gives TSA waiting times and he was off to the races. He made it through in five minutes with no wait visible at the checkpoint he used.
I had a colleague traveling with me on a business trip this week. He was trying to decide just how early he needed to arrive at Salt Lake City International Airport to make his flight. Even I was contemplating just how much time it might take to get through TSA lines this week. Both of us were quickly processed, without incident. During a connection, I stepped out at Dallas-Fort Worth to check the service times in Terminal D. Readers may be surprised to learn that there was no wait whatsoever at either of two DFW checkpoints.
The Media Has Over-Dramatized Widespread Delays
Sensationalism sells, and there is perhaps no topic more popular for the burned out American public than a fresh new crisis. What began as a truthful statement of genuine news deemed interesting to the public at large as well as a business people and travelers, quickly became the story to get.
But travelers are documenting their encounters, anecdotally, and it seems that there was little to no truth to the fantastical reports. Reddit has featured images from travelers showcasing empty TSA lines. Frequent flyer groups on Facebook indicate the same “business as usual” wait times as any other day. Even in the aforementioned news reports, live video of dramatic lines had all but vanished.
Since the shutdown, I have had a fairly busy travel pattern. Personally, I’ve been through Pittsburgh (several times), Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers (RSW), Houston, Dallas, and Salt Lake City. I’ve not experienced a single delay at any of them despite news reports of strikes like this one about my home airport.
Shortly after writing this portion, I saw yet another “live look” at the TSA lines at DFW Terminal D with the film crew to the left, the reporter was in the black coat. Look at the lines! The mass hysteria!
TSA Employee Wages Shouldn’t Be Caught in Political Crossfire
This isn’t a political post. I don’t care which side of the fence you find yourself or if there is a fence at all. I have never had more respect for a TSA employee than I do right now. For those that are still coming to work (which appears to be an awful lot of them) without a paycheck in more than a month, I have nothing but my deepest respect to offer.
Further, saying “thank you” to them for working despite missing paychecks (though they will be paid when the government re-opens) may make some feel better, but won’t feed their kids or pay their mortgage. If you want to help the frontline agents that many of us (especially me) take for granted there are ways to help. They cannot accept gifts in the TSA line but can accept them away from the security area so long as the value is less than $20.
I don’t need to weigh in on why the government is closed, who is to blame, or whether it is justified/unjustified – that is for the comments section. I will only state that you should not believe what you see on TV regarding security lines. TSA staffers are doing a great job and lines are short and easy. One other thought to consider: if callout rates are up to four times the normal level and still there is no slow down in the TSA lines, could we perhaps pare down the total amount of TSA employees generally?
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How has your experience been? Are TSA lines longer than normal? Have you had troubles that the media hasn’t been able to capture?
I waited an hour at O’hare pre-check. The most I’ve ever waited was 15 mins in the past few years. I’m not saying this has been over dramatized, but also your random accounts are useless unless you’re at every airport. Did you and Matthew not have enough posts so had to criticize the media and other travelers complaining? Maybe go talk to a TSA agent and ask them how they feel about not being paid. You’re just as bad as the mainstream media for posting something like this.
Mr. Hayes, a few notes on your careful observations. In fairness, if my anecdotal accounts (admittedly) and those of the others that have commented here, as well as commenters on other sites and in news coverage cannot possibly be accurate without viewing every airport in the country, doesn’t that make your single example even less pertinent?
We have plenty of posts, just annoyed by new reporters talking about long lines and the crisis with empty lines behind them such as the examples I have listed, linked and photographed.
Despite your keen eye, you seemed to have missed the following phrases where I recognize, and empathize with the plight of workers who continue to show up despite not knowing when they will be paid again and even identify how to help if you’d like:
“I have never had more respect for a TSA employee than I do right now. For those that are still coming to work (which appears to be an awful lot of them) without a paycheck last pay period and without getting one this pay period, I have nothing but my deepest respect to offer.”
“Further, saying thank you to them for working despite missing paychecks (though they will be paid when the government re-opens) may make some feel better, but won’t feed their kids or pay their mortgage. If you want to help the frontline agents that many of us (especially me) take for granted, they cannot accept gifts in the TSA line but can away from security area so long as it is less than $20.”
“TSA staffers are doing a great job and lines are short and easy.”
We flew out of ORD on January 18th and also had TSA Pre Check and might have waited 15 minutes. What’s this shows is it’s all about timing.
Doesn’t “God rest his soul” mean he’s dead?
Yes. Confusing.
It was a tongue-in-cheek reference to Christmas Vacation, link now in the post.
gotta agree– even with the explanation it just doesn’t really make sense…. perhaps lead with a recognizable quote from the movie first?
lol this is overanalysis if I’ve ever seen it
Simply, Kyle is not a good writer. Just take a look at the title of this article – “shutdown demise”. What does that mean? Shutdown is a bad thing as is the word, demise. So the demise of a shutdown would be a good thing, right?
I’ve been at IAH, JFK, LAX, SLC, ELP, EWR in the past week. No more than 5 mins at each PreCheck line. That doesn’t mean that it is the same all over, but there shouldn’t be a disagreement that generally speaking, the media over sensationalizes just about every event in order to improve ratings.
Umm…you need to rework this article and then go back for Resistance training. Trump only looks bad if there is a national crisis with long TSA lines!
what is a “shutdown demise”?
and “God rest his soul” means your father is deceased.
If you want to be taken seriously, you need to learn to write like an educated adult.
Jeff:
The title of was a play on the often misquoted Mark Twain statement, “The report of my death was an exaggeration” http://bit.ly/2FGnbg6. Perhaps others didn’t find it as clever as I did, fair enough.
The second statement was a reference to the movie, Christmas Vacation, a quote he often repeats and is now included with a short description in the post for your reference.
This can’t possibly be serious, it is a blog. Further, I find that in a post about reporters whining about long lines while standing in front of empty lines (as indicated in my images), a little levity is fitting. I guess you do not.
I’ve been though RIC, CLT, DFW, MCO, ORD, PHL and JFK over the last two weeks – business as usual except for JFK which is always a pain in the ass in the best of times. I’m heading to LAS, DFW, CLT and IAD this coming week – I doubt there will be any major issues, but you can bet it’ll be pandemonium from the left wing media.
Yeah, that was weird – your dad TWD? Travels while dead.
Agreed on JFK. On my poor father, please see link and explanation now in the body of the post.
you write good… not
*well
Three data points from our office:
– One guy reported an hour-long security line at DFW Terminal D the Thursday after New Years;
– Another guy reported getting through in 3 minutes the next day;
– I was literally one of two people in line at Precheck at 5 AM on Friday the 11th, and the non-Precheck line looked about normal for a weekday. LAX T5 and T7 also appeared normal from the looks of things.
So, while I’m not quite ready to write it off as complete #fakenews, I think the reality is major problems are spotty (for now). Where I think you might see problems grow and spread is if the shutdown continues for much longer. I have to imagine a lot of TSA screeners only have so long they can go without pay, and will eventually say “screw it” and quit to find other jobs.
Kyle Stewart, I am hooked! You are funny and willing to offer explanations to the humor challenged readers who feel strongly (and usually inaccurately) about their misunderstanding of the writing.
Keep it up.
The best is when CNN is blaring from all the TV screens in airports about how bad TSA lines are and you just took 2 minutes to go through security in a major hub.
Kyle, some of us think you are great. Man alive, what’s all this demand for perfection? It doesn’t exist anywhere, and your blog entries are more than good enough in an imperfect world.
Perfection? Not really, but when there is a very regular pattern of typos, it begins to look very bad. Easy stuff that can be generally fixed if he re-read his posts or even ran them through a spell check.
I welcome your corrections. Oddly, I have not received the same vitriol on other posts so perhaps this one was, in fact, poorly written. I am not sure that one post makes a “bad writer” but I guess that’s for the internet to decide.
You referred to an earlier theory of yours as a ‘premonition’. Have you looked up what the word actually means? Also, commas are NOT the same thing as semi colons. Please learn how to use them.
Also, ‘same vitriol’, should probably have been stated as, ‘same LEVEL of vitriol’. I think that is closer to what you actually meant. See, ‘same vitriol’ would mean ‘same criticisms’. I think you meant to say that you hadn’t received the same LEVEL of criticism, not that you hadn’t received the exact same criticisms. Right?
Are you editing my comments now, too?
Sir, I shall propose something better. Forward me your posts first, and I will edit as appropriate. I like your articles. Just many typos that may imply hurriedness. 🙂
Kyle, umm..no, I am not ‘editing’ your comments (sigh).
3 flights since shutdown: LAX, ORD, EWR, STL, CLT, SFO…. no serious delays at any of them.
I wonder WHY the media has over-dramatized….