Airports are buckling under pressure—and some could shut down, officials warn

A government shutdown, war in the Middle East, and storms: airline passengers in the U.S. are facing quite a number of issues right now. 

On Sunday, 10,740 flights were delayed and another 3,249 were canceled within, into, or out of the U.S., according to FlightAware. On Monday, those numbers rose to 12,926 and 4,863, respectively. 

More than half of flights into and out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport (ATL) were delayed Monday, while over a third of those into or out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) were canceled. 

A similar pattern followed on Monday, and by 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday there were 1,156 delays with another 215 cancellations. 

Why is air travel such a mess right now?

Airports’ most recent issue is weather. Winter Storm Iona plummeted parts of the Midwest over the weekend and into Monday, bringing record snowfall up to three feet in places like Michigan and Wisconsin, The Weather Channel reports. More than 20 tornadoes have also swept through states such as Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, and North Carolina over the last few days.

Then there’s the rising price of oil, stemming from the current war in Iran. On February 26, U.S. President The President and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu attacked Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and at least 3,114 people, according to a March 17 report from the U.S.-based group, Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA). The ensuing war has shut down much of the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, and disrupted global oil supplies. 

Some airlines have announced increases to their flight prices in response to raising fuel costs, Business Insider reports. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) said Tuesday that it would cancel over 1,000 flights in April due to the higher cost of oil, Reuters reports. 

Then there’s the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, currently in its fifth week. Lawmakers are deadlocked over funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have gone without pay ever since—and only a matter of months since doing so during the fall’s government shutdown. 

By now you’ve likely seen the many pictures and videos circulating online of travelers waiting in exceptionally long TSA lines. According to DHS, 366 transport security officers have resigned and callouts are spiking. The agency reports that callouts rose over 50% in Houston and more than 30% in New Orleans and Atlanta on Sunday and Monday. 

On Tuesday, TSA’s acting deputy Adam Stahl told Fox and Friends, “As the weeks continue, if this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if callout rates go up . . . A lot of those officers can’t afford to come in.”

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