By
Pete Syme
Every time Pete publishes a story, you’ll get an alert straight to your inbox!
By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider’s
Terms of Service and
Privacy Policy.
Follow Pete Syme
- Passengers have faced long lines at airports as TSA agents call out of work.
- Sean Duffy told CNBC it will look like "child's play" if they miss another paycheck next week.
- "Air travel's going to come to a grid halt stop," he added.
Travellers, be warned: The worst could be yet to come.
Since missing their first full paycheck last Friday, more agents from the Transportation Security Administration have been calling out of work.
"As we get into next week and they're about to miss another payment, this is going to look like child's play, what's happening right now," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNBC on Thursday.
He then echoed Adam Stahl, the TSA's acting deputy administrator, who said earlier this week that some airports could be forced to shut down if issues persist.
"You're going to see small airports, I believe, shut down," Duffy told CNBC. "You're going to see extensive lines, and air travel's going to come to a grid halt stop."
Staffing shortages have been causing hourslong lines at some airports since the partial government shutdown began on February 14.
Monday saw the highest nationwide rate of TSA agents calling out of work since the start of the shutdown, at 10.22%.
The Department of Homeland Security said the average callout rate was previously less than 2%, but has exceeded 6% during the shutdown.
This is a developing story.
