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Airport security lines across the U.S. have reached a new level of chaos. Passengers are showing up before sunrise just to have a shot at making it through, only to deal with hours-long waits and missed flights.
But now, after weeks of mounting pressure, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at fixing the problem by finally paying the people who run airport security.
The order, which was signed on Friday, directs the Department of Homeland Security to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration officers, who have gone without pay since February 14 due to the ongoing partial government shutdown. In theory, that should help get staffing levels back up—and lines back down.
But “immediate” won’t necessarily mean instant relief at the airport. According to the Department of Homeland Security, paychecks could start arriving as soon as today, March 30. That would mark the first pay many TSA officers have seen in over six weeks.
The slightly less reassuring part: in past shutdowns, it’s taken anywhere from two to four weeks for federal workers to actually receive back pay. And even if payments start quickly this time, not every officer will return to work overnight. After missing roughly $1 billion in wages collectively, many workers have already called out, found other income or quit entirely. (More than 400 officers have resigned during the shutdown, Reuters reported.)
As for airport security lines, they won’t be back to normal immediately, but they may be soon. Experts say that once pay is reliably flowing again, staffing should rebound quickly. In an optimistic scenario, experts also say that wait times could improve within 24 to 48 hours of workers returning in full force.
The more realistic timeline: expect another week or two of long lines, especially at major hubs, as schedules stabilize and airports reopen closed checkpoints or expand screening capacity. Some locations have reported absentee rates as high as 40% and rebuilding that staffing gap will take time.
There’s also a longer-term wrinkle: training new TSA officers can take four to six months, so the impact of recent resignations may even affect summer travel.
For the moment, the advice remains the same (if a bit extreme): arrive at least four hours early, check airport websites for real-time updates and don’t rely too heavily on the MyTSA app, which hasn’t been consistently updated during the shutdown.
Relief is finally coming but, for now, getting through security may still be the hardest leg of your trip.