Weekend travelers are facing long waits at some airports during the Department of Homeland Security closure

The estimated wait time at the standard security checkpoint at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport early Sunday evening was at one point and three hours, according to the Houston Airports website. Hobby Airport said on social media on Friday that it expects more passengers than usual due to spring break.

In a series of posts on Sunday, the airport on

A statement from Houston Airports, which counts Hobby Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport as part of its system, said the closure “could impact day-to-day security and turnaround operations.” Wait times at checkpoints at George Bush Intercontinental Airport early Sunday evening were as short as a few minutes.

Posts on X from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Sunday reported that a shortage of TSA agents at the security checkpoint is leading to “longer than average” lines. The airport urged travelers to arrive at least three hours before their flights, and said waiting times could reach two hours. It warned that similar delays could continue over the next week.

Read more: The Department of Homeland Security is closing the Global Entry program while the partial government shutdown remains in effect

It is not immediately clear whether the delays in Houston and New Orleans are occurring at other airports around the country. The longer than usual wait times on Sunday came on top of flight delays in recent days in places like Atlanta due to the weather.

TSA agents are expected to work without pay during the department’s ongoing shutdown, which began on February 14. Democratic lawmakers said the Department of Homeland Security would not receive funding until new restrictions are imposed on federal immigration operations in the wake of the fatal shootings of Alex Peretti and Renee Judd in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Chris Sununu, president and CEO of Airlines for America, a trade group for US airlines, in a statement urged Congress and the Trump administration to act.

“We are in the spring break travel season and we expect record numbers of people to take to the skies,” he said. “Airlines have done their part to prepare; now Congress and the administration must act with urgency to reach an agreement that reopens the Department of Homeland Security and ends this shutdown.” “America’s transportation security workforce is too important to be used as political leverage.”

Jessica Andersen Alexie and her two children, 10 and 13, were among the travelers who got stuck in long lines at Hobby in Houston as they tried to return home to New Orleans. They were in Houston for the World Baseball Classic.

Alexei said they arrived three hours early to find a long line and realized they would not make their flight. While in line, she checked rental cars to see if driving home might be an option but couldn’t find any available. I was able to rebook a late night flight and was relieved to get through the CLEAR security line about 3 1/2 hours later.

When they finally sat down to eat, she decided to take another look at the available flights, fearing that others in line would have to cancel and rearrange their plans, and found three seats on a flight that took her family home Sunday afternoon. When they landed at the New Orleans airport, the line extended into the parking garage, she said.

“It was crazy,” she said. “It was crazy.”