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The looming specter of a government shutdown could spell delays for holiday travelers this year.
The biggest impact would likely be felt at U.S. airports.
The Transportation Security Administration said Thursday that it expected to screen 40 million passengers through Jan. 2, and that roughly 59,000 of its more than 62,000 employees were expected to continue working, in the absence of pay, if a congressional deal isn’t reached and government funding lapses at 12:01 a.m. ET on Saturday.
“While our personnel are prepared to handle high volumes of travelers and ensure safe travel, please be aware that an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” TSA Administrator David P. Pekoske said in a statement Thursday.
A shutdown could also translate to $1 billion per week in losses to the American travel economy, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
The House passed a funding bill Friday evening, sending it to the Senate just hours before a midnight deadline. It’s unclear if the measure will reach President Joe Biden’s desk before then.
The most recent shutdown began on Dec. 22, 2018, and lasted 35 days. The extended uncertainty led to unexpected absences among many TSA workers.
Federal Aviation Administration and TSA employees are barred from striking, work stoppages or organizing sick-outs under federal law, but during the last shutdown some air traffic controllers called in sick, and travelers making their way through airports across the Northeast were hit with lengthy delays.
Holiday travelers at that time faced longer security screening lines after TSA officer callouts nearly tripled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and the rate of absences among airport screeners peaked at 10%, up from an average 3% absence rate, according to a report by the research firm Tourism Economic.
Rail travel could also be affected by a shutdown. Amtrak employees will continue to receive pay, but 40% of Federal Railroad Administration personnel faced furloughs in the 2018-19 shutdown, and its Office of Railroad Safety employees worked without a paycheck, according to the firm’s report.
People opting to travel by car could also face longer trips, even though the nation’s highways aren’t immediately affected by a government shutdown in any meaningful way.
AAA said it projected that roughly 119 million people would trek 50 miles or more from home during the holidays, from Dec. 21 until Jan. 1 — an increase of about 3 million travelers from a year before.
“This year, with Christmas Day falling on a Wednesday, we’re anticipating record-breaking travel numbers the weekend before and the weekend after the holiday,” Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement this month.
Zoë Richards is a politics reporter for NBC News.
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