Airport security lines eased at several major US airports on March 31, 2026, after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers began receiving retroactive pay following weeks of missed paychecks during the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Officials at many US airports said checkpoint operations showing notable improvements, though conditions remained uneven around the country.
The shorter wait times came after US President Donald Trump on March 28 ordered TSA workers to be paid despite the partial DHS shutdown continuing. Airports had struggled through days of long lines as spring break travel collided with staffing shortages tied to the shutdown.
At Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), officials said operations had returned to normal. In a public update, the airport said the “normal, quick and efficient checkpoint operations travelers expect” had returned, and a spokesperson later said checkpoints were operating within the normal range.
Atlanta also showed signs of improvement. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) said its TSA wait-time tracker was fully operational again on March 31 and continued advising travelers to arrive two hours before domestic departures and three hours before international flights. Wait times listed for Atlanta on Delta’s airport wait-time page were minimal, including zero to two minutes at several domestic checkpoints and three minutes at the international checkpoint.
New York looked better too. The Port Authority put airport wait times back online, though it said conditions could still change quickly. Delta’s posted times on March 31 showed three minutes at JFK PreCheck and 35 minutes at the regular checkpoint. LaGuardia was one minute for both.
Houston remained a problem spot. The Houston Airport System said lines at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby could still run longer than normal even after TSA workers started getting paid again. Waits were 10 minutes or less on Tuesday morning, but officials said that could change with traffic and staffing.
