TSA Drafts Plan To Close About 75 Small U.S. Airports To Reallocate TSA Officers

The single most important new development is a concrete plan to suspend or dramatically shrink operations at smaller U.S. airports as the DHS funding lapse persists, including a drafted list of roughly 75 airports that could be closed to reallocate TSA staff to busy hubs and a push to “hibernate” checkpoints at low-volume fields.

“Passengers wait in a security checkpoint line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Houston”

FOX 56 News

This represents a shift from mere wait-time discourse to an explicit staffing strategy that would reroute resources away from smaller facilities.

FOX 56 News

MyNorthwest notes that “the agency created a list of about 75 airports that could be closed to free up officers to send to major hubs with long security wait times.”

The Hill adds that TSA could “close smaller airports if we do not have enough officers.”

FOX 56 News (AP) underscores the mechanism, saying “TSA checkpoint closures and the consolidation of security lanes at several U.S. airports are making travel more complicated for passengers.”

Sky News (Western Mainstream) reports the scale of the problem, noting nearly 500 TSA employees had quit, with effects on wait times.

TIME (Western Mainstream) summarizes the consequence: “the highest wait times in TSA history, with some wait times greater than four and a half hours.”

The escalation in absenteeism is quantified: more than 480 TSA officers have quit since the DHS funding lapse on February 14, with call-out rates routinely in the 40%-plus range at major airports and wait times described as the longest in TSA history.

Sky News confirms that nearly 500 officers had left, and TIME corroborates the severity by reporting wait times topping four-and-a-half hours at some checkpoints.

Global News

Global News emphasizes the traction of the attrition by noting the jump to over 480 quitting officers, while NBC 7 San Diego highlights parallel disruptions in San Diego linked to security staffing shortfalls.

Taken together, the numbers translate into a security queue reality that is no longer a marginal annoyance but a systemic risk to travel reliability.

The staffing crisis is already reframing travel planning and event readiness.

“Closing some US airports due to TSA staffing would have big consequences, experts say Mar 27, 2026, 7:00 AM (Tess Crowley, Deseret News) Problems at U”

KSL NewsRadio

The Hill highlights fear of a broader disruption at World Cup venues, noting a potential 'perfect storm of severe staffing shortages' as millions of additional travelers are expected, with McNeill warning that officers must train for the influx and that the World Cup window is closing in: “less than 80 days.”

TIME adds a dimension of travel volume, projecting between 6 million and 10 million extra travelers for the summer tournament.

Sky News also points to World Cup-related timing pressures, signaling that fan arrivals could complicate already stretched security.

The combination of unpaid pay, attrition and event-driven surges raises the prospect that some airports may operate at reduced capacity or without robust screening staffing, with ripple effects on schedules nationwide.

Policy responses and political fault lines define the next chapter.

TIME reports that President Donald Trump dispatched Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to several airports to aid TSA officers, signaling the administration’s willingness to deploy federal personnel to sustain security operations, and the President later floated the possibility of calling up the National Guard.

MyNorthwest

The Hill frames the standoff as a clash between Democrats seeking ICE reforms and Republicans resisting broader funding while insisting DHS funding, including for immigration enforcement, be renewed.

FOX 56 News (AP) confirms the ICE deployments as a tactical move that “is yielding results,” even as critics accuse the administration of inflammatory measures.

VisaHQ summarizes a potential legislative workaround: the Senate-passed DHS bill would inject immediate pay and allow TSA to recall employees, while the House remains blocked.

Practical implications for travelers are intensifying: if the closures or ‘hibernation’ scenarios proceed, passengers should expect longer, more complex itineraries and potential re-routing.

“Staffing shortages led to flight delays and lengthy security lines at the San Diego International Airport Friday amid a government shutdown that has left airport workers across the country working without pay”

NBC 7 San Diego

VisaHQ outlines actionable steps for travelers who must move through a disrupted system, including routing toward Category X hubs (ATL, DFW, DEN, LAX) that TSA has pledged to keep fully staffed, and even contingency measures like temporary “sterile-lane” bus transfers to connect travelers from closed airports to functioning hubs.

NBC 7 San Diego

Analysts warn that closing even a handful of regional airports would trigger cascading effects on connections and cargo, complicating planning for business travelers and tour operators alike.

NBC 7 San Diego underscores the real-world consequence with reports of extended lines and flight delays amid the staffing failings, and travel advisories across media echo the need to arrive far earlier than usual.