A government shutdown is looming, and that could majorly affect Americans’ holiday travel plans.
If Congress is unable to pass funding to keep the government running by midnight Friday, nonessential federal operations would stop working, The New York Times reported. As such, there could be massive delays when it comes to travel, especially for those who plan to fly in the next week or so.
“Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families who are gathering to meet with their loved ones,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said in a statement earlier this week.
The Transportation Security Administration is expecting to screen some 40 million air travelers from December 19 through January 2, the Times noted. That’s a 6.2 percent increase from the same time period last year. If the government shuts down, however, most TSA employees would be required to work without pay. As happened during a 2018–19 shutdown, some of those TSA agents could stop working due to financial hardship, potentially causing longer lines and wait times because of a lack of staff.
During that prior shutdown, for example, 10 percent of TSA agents were out nationwide at one point, The New York Times wrote. And on the last day of that shutdown, a dearth of employees at air-traffic control facilities resulted in rerouted flights and hundreds of delays throughout the Northeast. If something similar happens this time around, it could be compounded by storms predicted to occur in the Northeast and the South over the next few days.
For those traveling by train, Amtrak expects service to run as usual. While the company gets state and federal subsidies, it’s an independent entity, so it doesn’t have to deal with the same issues as the TSA and other public groups. But if you’re hoping to avoid the long lines at airports by driving, you may still run into some traffic, the Times reported.
“This year, with Christmas Day falling on a Wednesday, we’re anticipating record-breaking travel numbers the weekend before and the weekend after the holiday,” Stacey Barber, a vice president at AAA Travel, said in a statement to the newspaper.
It’s certainly not an ideal situation for all the people planning to travel around the country for the holidays—but it’s also one that could still be avoided in the next few hours.
