Travel industry rallies support for TSA staff working without pay amid concern of delays during shutdown

The travel industry is imploring lawmakers to ensure on-time pay for Transportation Security Administration employees, launching a campaign on Thursday to pressure Congress into passing legislation to that effect while the partial government shutdown remains in effect. 

As TSA employees have already received a partial paycheck and are preparing to miss their next one entirely, private sector operators who depend on smoothly running airports are speaking out in favor of the agency’s workforce. The Homeland Security Department shutdown is finishing its third week as congressional Democrats and the White House remain divided on the agency’s funding and how to reform its immigration enforcement crackdown. 

Travel industry officials created the “Pay Federal Aviation Workers” campaign to rally support to end the shutdown and, absent that, pass various pieces of legislation that would ensure air traffic controllers and TSA staff receive on-time paychecks during funding lapses. The Federal Aviation Administration, like all agencies outside DHS, is fully funded for fiscal 2026 and air traffic controllers are therefore not impacted by the current impasse. 

They also called for Customs and Border Protection officers to receive on-time pay, though most CBP employees are being paid on a normal schedule thanks to funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

Geoff Freeman, president of the U.S. Travel Association, said the “stakes are too high” to continue making TSA employees sacrifice. 

“TSA officers screen nearly a billion passengers a year,” Freeman said. “With an average salary of around $35,000, these are workers who simply cannot afford to miss a paycheck. Right now, Congress is allowing them to do that work without one.” 

Missed pay for TSA workers often serves as a flash point in shutdowns, as it typically causes a spike in unscheduled absences that in turn leads to longer security lines. Those delays tend to increase pressure on lawmakers to find a resolution to their standoffs. 

Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told Congress last month that her agency saw a 25% increase in attrition during the record-setting shutdown last fall compared to the same six-week period the year before the lapse. TSA can ill-afford a similar employee drain now, she added, as the agency is preparing for increased traffic during spring break and the upcoming World Cup.

“It’s affecting recruiting as we speak,” she said of the lingering uncertainty.

Chris Sununu, a former Republican governor from New Hampshire and current president of Airlines for America, said his clients have met demand by adding capacity, but the government is failing to hold up its end of the bargain. 

“Congress must get to the table and act with urgency to get a deal done that ensures frontline agencies can fully operate and employees can get the paychecks they earn for the important work they do to keep our skies secure,” Sununu said. 

The groups estimated that TSA would screen an average of 2.8 million passengers per day in March and April, an all-time high. The 2025 shutdown caused 9,000 flights to be delayed or canceled, they said, which took a $6 billion toll on the travel industry. 

DHS employees have told Government Executive they are still paying off loans they took out during the last shutdown and are rotating taking unpaid days off to save on commuting costs. 

“For the third time in five months, TSA screeners are being asked to perform their jobs without pay because Washington can’t find a way to do its job,” said Todd Hauptli, president of the American Association of Airport Executives. “That’s wrong, and dedicated screeners shouldn’t have to pay the price for continued Washington dysfunction.”

The House on Thursday once again advanced a spending bill for DHS, though it was approved largely along party lines and did not contain the new checks on DHS law enforcement personnel that Democrats are seeking. The measure is not expected to pass the Senate in its current form. Democratic leadership and the White House have traded legislative reform proposals back and forth—and President Trump announced on Thursday he would fire DHS Secretary Kristi Noem—but the two sides have yet to reach an agreement that would reopen the department.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., made clear on Thursday that Noem's removal would not lead to a change in Democrats' strategy in holding up DHS funding. 

"This is a problem of policy, not personnel," Schumer said. "The rot is deep. No one person can straighten this up until the president changes the whole agency, stops the violence and reins in [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]."