The TSA callout rate hit 10% just before the shutdown ended in 2019, more than three times the normal rate. A spokesperson for the agency said it did not have similar data available, but some airports have cited unscheduled absences for longer-than-usual lines.

The delays are being caused by TSA staffing shortages and reduced checkpoint availability linked to the federal government shutdown.

TSA workers were told sick calls will bring “appropriate accountability measures to the fullest extent possible” after the shutdown ends—but airport screeners told Forbes such threats would likely backfire.

Houston resident Ana Morales was standing within eyeshot of the terminal's TSA checkpoint at 5:45 a.m. to drop off her mother for a flight home to Mexico. Morales said her mother's airline advised she arrive to the airport five or six hours ahead of her 11 a.m. flight because of recent "airport issues."

After TSA lines stretched out the doors at Bush Airport, travelers are showing up hours early — and sharing what they’ve learned to avoid missing flights.

The unpaid workers include 24 air traffic controllers at Syracuse Hancock International Airport who have been working mandatory overtime shifts, six days per week and 10 hours per day, syracuse.com | The Post-Standard reported Monday.