Of the many negative impacts expected from the $85 billion in spending cuts from the government that began on Friday, longer waits at customs in the airports may be one of the more unexpected. Although the Transportation Security Administration has not yet been directly affected by the budget cuts, the agency has put a hiring freeze into effect and banned overtime for its employees in an effort to conserve funds.
“If you’re traveling, get to the airport earlier than you otherwise would,” Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told reporters. “There’s only so much we can do with personnel, and please don’t yell at the customs officers or the TSA officers.”
“We will see these effects cascade over the next week,” she said. “I don’t mean to scare. I mean to inform. If you’re traveling, get to the airport earlier than you otherwise would.”
At New York City’s JFK airport and Miami International airport, 25% to 40% of the TSA staff typically present would be working overtime.
The morning after the budget cuts went into effect, 56 flights at the JFK airport waited over two hours to clear customs, and passengers from 14 flights waited longer than three hours.
The delays could also be compounded by the reduction in hours for air traffic controllers.
“If we don’t have the controllers looking at the airplanes making sure they’re separated, those airplanes aren’t going to be in the air,” says air traffic controller Dan Carrico, who is the union representative at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. “You’re looking at approximately 44 to 45 minutes of delay per aircraft that flies into O’Hare.”
