Airports like JFK and Houston report shorter wait times, though LaGuardia still faces delays of up to two hours. Published On 30 Mar 202630 Mar 2026Following weeks of long lines at United States airport security checkpoints, operations are starting to return to normal after US President Donald Trump signed an emergency directive ordering payment to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers last week.Airport security checkpoints across the country are seeing much shorter lines, including at New York’s John F Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, where wait times are now under a half hour, and at comparable hubs like Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Baltimore’s Thurgood Marshall Airport.While delays are decreasing at many major airports, that’s not the case everywhere. As of 1pm in New York City (17:00 GMT), lines at LaGuardia Airport, which primarily serve destinations in the US, parts of Canada, and the Caribbean, are reaching 90 minutes at Terminal B.On Friday, US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said TSA workers “should begin seeing paycheques as early as Monday”. Trump’s action came after Republicans in the US House of Representatives rejected a Senate-passed bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).TSA agents called out in record numbers over the weekend, with 10.59 percent calling out on Saturday and 12.35 percent on Friday, DHS confirmed. Al Jazeera requested specific call-out numbers for Monday, which the agency did not provide.Looming paycheques are coming as negotiations in Congress continue to stall amid the partial US government shutdown, which is entering its 45th day. Advertisement “At the direction of President …
