Shutdown taking toll on TSA in some airports

BOSTON — The impacts of the partial government shutdown are really starting to show.

Transportation Safety Administion airport screeners are now calling out sick as they hit more than three weeks without pay.

Massport says there have been no TSA staffing shortages at Boston Logan, but for many travelers coming in from other airports -- there have been lines to make their flights even longer.

Passengers in Atlanta waited more than an hour to get through security at Hartsfield.

TSA told Boston 25 News on Monday alone their sick calls during the shutdown went from 2.5 percent in 2018 to nearly 7 percent on the same day this year -- which is a 172 percent increase in sick calls.

We talked to some passengers who left Atlanta who had some of the longest waits.

"I got to the airport at 6 and didn't make it through security until almost like 7:45 p.m.," Bianca Lavalanche said of her journey to Boston from Atlanta.

That passenger told us she even saw another passenger give a TSA screener a tip to say thank you for working even though they're not getting paid right now.

Cox Media Group