For security reasons, airports and TSA spokespeople have not released exact numbers regarding how many people have called out sick. But the effects are being felt across the country. Wait times in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (the busiest airport in the world) were over an hour, even for domestic flights, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday morning. At least six TSA checkpoints were closed due to staffing shortage.
In Houston, George Bush International Airport closed the ticket counters and all security checkpoints of Terminal B, which mostly serves domestic United flights, citing "staffing issues associated with the partial shutdown of the federal government" as the reason behind the closure. Flights will still fly in and out of the terminal, but passengers will have to check in and go through security in Terminals C or E, and then take a tram to B, the airport announced. There's no announced end-date for the security closure.
Over the weekend, Miami International Airport closed an entire terminal for three days to distribute TSA agents to busier checkpoints. The airport's spokesperson says the number of screeners calling out has doubled, compared to the standard number, and that TSA managers were "erring on the side of caution,” according to the Miami Herald. The terminal has since reopened.