Security lines at some of America’s busiest airports are stretching on for hours.
At Houston’s George Bush Airport, security wait times topping four hours.
Travelers were waiting more than two and a half hours at New York's JFK Airport early Tuesday morning.
But elsewhere, travelers barely noticed a difference. Baltimore’s airport touted minimal wait times.
"Staffing is strained at some particular airports more than others, but there is no clear throughline and really no understanding of whether or not one airport will see more call outs versus another," said travel expert Katy Castro.
The slowdowns are the result of a continued congressional standoff over DHS funding. And travel experts say if they continue, the economic effects could start to get more profound.
More TSA agents are calling out, and the agency's workers are set to miss their second full paycheck on Friday.
“It’s not that these employees and their families are hungry. They’re beginning to starve. Starve," said Mac Johnson, Executive vice president of AG AFGE TSA Council 100. "Literally starve, because they do not have the funds to provide, the financial means to provide food for their families.”
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Meanwhile, travelers could soon face higher fares when they go to book their flights, due to the war with Iran driving up the price of oil and therefore jet fuel.
United’s CEO told employees in a letter last week if prices stayed at this level, it would mean an extra $11 billion in annual expense just for jet fuel.
"In terms of airfare, we are expecting some spikes," said Eric Rosen, director of travel content at The Points Guy. "It's been a little uneven so far but average airfares have gone up about 15% in the last month. So travelers are already seeing rising prices and it's only going to get worse as long as the conflict is going on."
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