DALLAS (AP) The partial government shutdown is starting to affect air travel.
Over the weekend, some airports had long lines at checkpoints, apparently caused by a rising number of security officers calling in sick while they are not getting paid.
Safety inspectors arent even on the job. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said Monday that inspectors are being called back to work on a case-by-case basis, with a priority put on inspecting airline fleets.
So far, the impact of the shutdown entering its 18th day on Tuesday has been most visible for some government buildings and national parks being closed, and trash piling up on the National Mall in front of the Capitol. If the shutdown continues, food stamp recipients will go without aid.
By increasingly affecting air travel, however, the pain is being felt more widely.
Here are some common questions about the shutdowns impact on airports and travel, along with the answers:
WHO IS SUPPOSED TO KEEP WORKING?
About 10,000 air traffic controllers who work for the Federal Aviation Administration and about 51,000 Transportation Security Administration officers have been told to keep reporting to work because they are deemed essential. Those workers at airport checkpoints, control towers and FAA radar stations arent being paid.
ARE THEY SHOWING UP?
TSA admits that more screeners are calling in sick at some airports, including Dallas-Fort Worth International. It gave few numbers but issued a statement Friday saying that more have been missing work since the Christmas and New Years holidays. The TSA said the effect was minimal.
Then over the weekend, travelers reported longer checkpoint lines at some airports, including LaGuardia in New York. On Monday, TSA tweeted that agents screened 2.22 million passengers nationwide on Sunday, which it called a historically busy day due to holiday travel. TSA said only about 220,000 travelers waited at least 15 minutes at checkpoints, while 0.2 percent fewer than 5,000 waited at least 30 minutes.
HOW WILL TSA RESPOND TO NO-SHOWS?
TSA spokesman Jim Gregory said officials are managing. If we dont have appropriations by midweek or so, (officers) will miss their first paycheck. Thats obviously where it becomes more difficult, he said.
Gregory said the agency has a team of officers who can go to airports facing a shortage, a tactic developed in case natural disasters prevented screeners from getting to work.
WHAT ABOUT TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS?
About 1,900 air traffic controllers nearly one in every five are eligible to retire right now and its not clear how many of them will stick around. They wont get paychecks later this week despite working over the holidays.
I dont know how long theyre going to stay on the job if theyre not getting a paycheck, said Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
There is an even larger group of recently hired trainees and apprentices and Rinaldi said the prospect of a long shutdown could lead some of them to take other jobs.
WILL A SHORTAGE OF CONTROLLERS LEAD TO FLIGHT DELAYS?
The largest pilots union wrote to President Donald Trump last week urging a quick end to the shutdown, which it said was threatening the safety of the nations airspace.
