March 17, 2026, 10:03 a.m. ET
- A partial federal government shutdown is causing long security lines at airports during the spring break travel season.
- The shutdown has left roughly 50,000 TSA officers working without regular pay, leading to staffing shortages.
- Travelers at some major airports have reported wait times of up to three hours, causing missed flights.
Heading out of one of Florida’s major airports for spring break? Or maybe you’re heading home after spending your spring break in Florida?
Travelers across the country are encountering unusually long airport security lines as a partial federal government shutdown strains the Transportation Security Administration.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) previous funding agreement lapsed on Friday, Feb. 13, as Congress failed to reach a new funding agreement in time. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TSA. Roughly 50,000 TSA officers are continuing to work without regular pay during the funding lapse, leading to staffing shortages and inflated wait times as spring break travel ramps up.
According to USA TODAY, passengers have reported waiting hours to get through checkpoints at major airports, with some missing flights as security lines stretched into terminals and even parking areas.
“Today, travelers are facing TSA lines of up to nearly 3 hours long at some major airports, causing missed flights and massive delays during peak travel,” TSA told USA TODAY in a statement. “These frontline heroes received only partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first full missed paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages.”
Here are the current wait times for TSA at Florida’s major airports, as of 9 a.m. March 17.
MCO’s website lists the following wait times for travelers:
- Gates 1 through 59: 14 – 18 min
- Gate 70 through 129: 40 – 44 min
- Gate C230 through C249: 14 – 18 min
MIA’s website lists the following wait times for travelers:
- Checkpoint 1:
- General: N/A
- TSA-PRE: 3 minutes
- Checkpoint 2:
- General: 14 minutes
- Priority: 6 minutes
- TSA-PRE: Closed
- Checkpoint 3:
- General: 11 minutes
- Priority: 0 minutes
- Checkpoint 4:
- General: Closed
- Priority: 0 minutes
- Checkpoint 5:
- General: 3 minutes
- Priority: Closed
- TSA-PRE: 3 minutes
- Checkpoint 6:
- General: 6 minutes
- Priority: 4 minutes
- Checkpoint 7:
- General: 7 minutes
- Priority: 3 minutes
- Checkpoint 8:
- General: 16 minutes
- Priority: 10 minutes
- TSA-PRE: 4 minutes
- Clear: 4 minutes
- Checkpoint 9:
- General: 19 minutes
- Priority: 16 minutes
- Clear: 13 minutes
- Checkpoint 10:
- General: 3 minutes
- Priority: Closed
- Checkpoint FIS:
- General: 13 minutes
- TSA-PRE: Closed
According to the My TSA app, wait times at FLL range from 15 to 30 minutes. TSA Precheck travelers wait times are less than five minutes.
All of its terminals are open, as of 4 a.m. To see hours, check here.
On its website, TPA features the current message, “While TPA is currently experiencing high passenger volume due to spring break, our TSA security checkpoints are not seeing any significant delays or backups. As always, passengers should arrive 2 hours before a domestic flight and 3 hours for international travel.”
According to My TSA App, wait times at TPA do not exceed 15 minutes.
According to My TSA App, wait times at RSW do not exceed 15 minutes.
Are we in a government shutdown right now?
Yes, but only a partial one. As of March 17, it is on its 32nd day.
The shutdown is affecting only the Department of Homeland Security, not every agency under its oversight.
Is TSA still operating during the government shutdown?
Yes; however, the roughly 50,000 TSA employees deemed essential have been working without full pay since the funding lapse began on Feb. 14. They did receive a partial paycheck on Friday, March 13.
The Federal Aviation Administration is still fully funded during this partial shutdown.
Contributing: Zach Wichter, USA TODAY
Samantha Neely is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, theme parks, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
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