Millions of Americans heading to the airport this month are waking up to a new travel wildcard: a looming shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that could leave Transportation Security Administration officers and many Customs and Border Protection staff working without pay. With the current stopgap funding for DHS set to expire at midnight on Friday, February 13, and no deal in sight, travelers face a familiar but unsettling question: What happens to my next flight if DHS funding runs out again?
How We Got Here: A Funding Fight With Travel on the Line
The immediate crisis traces back to a short-term budget patch that Congress passed on February 3, 2026. That deal fully funded agencies such as the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration through the end of the fiscal year but only extended DHS funding through February 13. Lawmakers pulled DHS out of the broader package amid a fierce dispute over immigration enforcement and the conduct of federal agents, particularly following high-profile fatal shootings in Minnesota.
In the days leading up to the deadline, the House and Senate traded proposals but failed to agree on a long-term Homeland Security appropriations bill. Senate leaders attempted to move forward on the House-passed DHS spending bill, only to see it blocked. A last-ditch effort in the Senate to pass a two-week extension also collapsed. With both chambers effectively headed into recess, policy disagreements have hardened into a high-stakes standoff that leaves DHS, TSA and CBP on the brink of losing funding.
Industry groups that represent airports and aviation workers have been warning for weeks that the decision to carve DHS out of the earlier funding package would create exactly this kind of cliff. They now say a DHS-only shutdown is “very likely” once the clock runs out, absent a political breakthrough in Washington. For air travelers, that means navigating not only crowded terminals and tight connections but also the practical fallout of yet another federal funding lapse touching the security agencies that safeguard the nation’s airports.
Will Airports Shut Down? What a DHS Lapse Really Means
The phrase “DHS shutdown” conjures dramatic images of darkened terminals and grounded planes, but that is not how the system is designed to work. By law, functions considered essential for the protection of life and property must continue even when appropriations lapse. At airports, that includes nearly all TSA screening operations and a large share of Customs and Border Protection activities at international arrival points.
In practice, a shutdown means most front-line officers keep reporting to work but stop getting paid until Congress restores funding and authorizes back pay. DHS contingency planning indicates that roughly 95 percent of TSA’s workforce is deemed “excepted,” or required to work through a shutdown without pay. CBP officers at airports and land borders are similarly classified as essential, buoyed in part by access to fee-funded accounts that can temporarily cushion the impact of a funding lapse.
From a traveler’s perspective, your flight is almost certain to operate. Runways remain open, TSA lines are staffed and international arrivals are processed. The danger lies less in a wholesale shutdown of aviation and more in a slow erosion of capacity and morale: longer queues, fewer open checkpoints, and an overextended workforce strained by financial stress and political uncertainty. The longer a DHS shutdown lasts, the more that strain can ripple across the air travel system.
Security Lines, Delays and Staffing: What Travelers Should Expect
While planes will still take off, the experience of getting to your gate may worsen if the shutdown drags on. Past funding lapses have shown a clear pattern: as unpaid weeks accumulate, absenteeism among security staff rises. Some officers call in sick to seek temporary work elsewhere or to handle financial emergencies. Others simply burn out. The result can be sporadic checkpoint closures, reduced lane capacity and unpredictable wait times, especially during peaks like early morning and late afternoon.
House and Senate oversight committees have already flagged mounting pressures on TSA’s front line. In recent months, officers have been processing record passenger volumes even as they braced for the possibility of missed paychecks. Union leaders and worker advocates note that many TSA officers live paycheck to paycheck. When those paychecks stop, they face hard choices about rent, childcare and commuting costs, directly affecting their ability to show up for shifts.
Delays at security can quickly cascade. Longer queues at the checkpoint push boarding times later, which in turn can cause missed departure slots, missed connections and more crowded gate areas. At hub airports where transfer traffic is dense, even modest slowdowns can produce knock-on disruptions throughout the day’s schedule. While airlines and the FAA are funded for the remainder of the fiscal year, their ability to keep flights running smoothly still depends on a functioning security layer at the front door of every terminal.
Inside the Agencies: TSA, CBP and FAA Under Stress
A DHS shutdown hits each aviation-related agency in different ways. TSA faces the most direct and immediate impact. The vast majority of its more than 60,000 employees at airports must work without pay. A smaller group of staff in policy, planning and administrative roles are likely to be furloughed entirely. That combination keeps checkpoints open but stalls behind-the-scenes work on training, hiring, technology deployment and long-term planning that are essential to maintaining and improving security over time.
Customs and Border Protection is somewhat insulated in the short term thanks to access to fee revenue and earlier funding allocations for certain border operations. International travelers arriving in the United States should still see officers at passport control and customs inspection points. However, a protracted lapse can still strain CBP staffing and limit its ability to surge personnel to busy gateways or respond to unexpected disruptions.
The Federal Aviation Administration, although not part of DHS, is still living with the aftershocks of the brief government shutdown that ended on February 3. The most recent appropriations deal delivered full-year funding for the FAA and money for an aggressive hiring push for new air traffic controllers. Aviation labor groups welcomed that move but are now pushing for additional legal protections that would shield FAA operations and paychecks from future political fights. Their argument is simple: each shutdown, even if brief, drains morale and distracts safety-critical staff from their core mission.
Why This Shutdown Could Hurt More Than the Last One
For frequent flyers, it may feel as if government shutdown threats have become part of the background noise of travel planning. Yet security experts and labor leaders warn that each cycle of brinkmanship leaves a deeper mark, particularly on agencies like TSA that already struggle with recruitment and retention. A recent warning from TSA officials pointed to a surge in officer departures after the last shutdown, with more than a quarter increase in separations during the months immediately following the funding lapse, many directly tied to stress and missed paychecks.
That attrition matters because training a new screener is not as simple as posting a job ad and handing over a badge. New hires must clear background checks, complete classroom and on-the-job training, and gain enough experience to make confident, split-second security judgments under pressure. When seasoned officers walk away, agencies lose not just headcount but institutional knowledge that is difficult and expensive to replace.
A shutdown also stalls modernization efforts that are critical to making airports both safer and more efficient. TSA has been rolling out new screening technologies designed to speed up lines and enhance threat detection. Shutdowns freeze many of those deployments, delaying upgrades that would otherwise help absorb growing passenger volumes. Over time, the gap between what the system could handle and what it is actually equipped to manage widens, creating a structural drag on reliability that travelers feel in the form of persistent congestion.
Practical Advice: How to Protect Your Trip Amid the Uncertainty
While travelers cannot solve a funding debate in Washington, they can take concrete steps to reduce the chances that a DHS shutdown will derail their plans. The first is time. Build more of it into every stage of your airport journey. Aim to arrive at least an extra 30 to 60 minutes earlier than you normally would, especially during morning and evening peaks or at busy hubs known for long lines. If TSA lines are shorter than expected, you have a comfortable cushion. If they are not, that buffer could be the difference between a stressful sprint and a missed flight.
Second, take advantage of any trusted traveler programs or priority access you already have. TSA PreCheck and CLEAR, where available, can help funnel you into shorter lines, though even those programs can feel the pinch during periods of high absenteeism. If you have elite status with an airline that offers priority screening lanes, use them. For international trips, Global Entry or its equivalents can speed your arrival clearance, which is especially valuable if a disruption forces you to rebook or connect through a different airport than planned.
Third, think about how you schedule your flights. Early-morning departures are often more resilient because they leave before the day’s delays stack up. Nonstop flights reduce the risk that a security slowdown at your departure airport will cause you to misconnect somewhere else. If your itinerary includes a tight connection, try to move to a slightly later onward flight if there is room, even if it costs a bit more. In a period of uncertainty, generous connection times function like travel insurance.
The Bigger Picture: Politics, Policy and the Future of Aviation Stability
Beneath the immediate disruption lies a deeper question: how many times can the aviation system absorb funding crises before travelers start to lose faith in its reliability? Airport executives and airline leaders have spent years urging Congress to take critical functions like air traffic control and security screening off the shutdown battlefield. Some have backed legislation that would guarantee paychecks for essential workers even during lapses in appropriations, or that would provide multi-year funding authority for key aviation programs.
Worker organizations have been equally vocal. Air traffic controllers, pilots, flight attendants and TSA officers all stress that safety and security depend on focused, fully supported professionals, not employees wondering whether they can cover rent while working mandatory overtime. They argue that using aviation workers as leverage in unrelated political fights erodes not just morale but the culture of safety that underpins every takeoff and landing.
For now, travelers are caught in the crossfire. The current standoff over DHS funding was triggered by profound disagreements about immigration policy and federal law enforcement. Yet the practical fallout lands squarely on the shoulders of people trying to get to a business meeting, reunite with family or make a long-planned vacation. Until Congress and the White House find a way to insulate aviation from these recurring battles, every continuing resolution and budget deadline will carry with it an undercurrent of uncertainty at the nation’s airports.
Looking Ahead: What to Watch in the Coming Days
As the February 13 deadline approaches, the key variables are timing and political will. If lawmakers can agree on even a short-term extension, they may be able to avert a shutdown or limit it to a brief, largely symbolic lapse. If they do not, DHS will shift to contingency staffing plans late Friday night, and officers across TSA and CBP will arrive for shifts over the weekend without the reassurance of a paycheck on the way.
Travelers should expect the first days of a shutdown to look largely normal on the surface. It typically takes at least one missed payday for absenteeism and morale to begin visibly affecting operations. The bigger risks arise if the impasse stretches into weeks, particularly as the spring travel season gathers momentum. For now, the safest course is to assume your flight will operate while preparing for added friction in getting through security and, for international arrivals, in clearing customs.
Air travel in the United States has proven remarkably resilient in the face of political, economic and public health shocks. But that resilience is not unlimited. With each looming shutdown, the margin for error at the country’s airports narrows a bit more. For anyone holding a ticket in the weeks ahead, vigilance, flexibility and a little extra time at the airport may be the best tools available while Washington decides, once again, how much certainty it is willing to offer the people who keep America’s aviation system moving.