It may be hard to believe but another government shutdown is looming. Just three months after the last one, federal funding will run out at the end of Friday, March 14. What happens if Congress can’t pass at least a short-term budget? A lot … and it’s bad news for travelers.
As you can imagine, a government shutdown would significantly impact travelers in several ways, especially when it involves federal agencies, many of which play a key role in travel. Here’s where travelers will feel the most pain:
TSA and airport security
No one likes waiting in long TSA (Transportation Security Administration) lines and they could get much longer if there’s a shutdown. While most TSA workers are considered essential employees, there will still be a significant drop in staffing since these workers won’t get paid until the government reaches an agreement. Many of them, like most Americans, live paycheck to paycheck. If the shutdown lasts for a while, expect massive delays at airport security checkpoints as some will have to close due to understaffing.
Air traffic control and flight delays
Another way travelers will feel the pain is through flight delays or cancellations. Air traffic controllers will face the same issue as TSA workers. While they are considered essential employees, they too would have to work without pay during a shutdown. The U.S. is already facing a severe shortage of air traffic controllers, as the American Airlines DCA crash demonstrated. According to a representative from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the shortage is one of the worst in 30 years, and the U.S. needs more than 3,000 new controllers to reach adequate staffing. So, with a shutdown, the FAA will likely lose some controllers and won’t be able to hire more during the shutdown. Source: CNN
Customs and immigration delays
Another pain point for travelers entering the U.S. is customs and immigration lines. Even when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are fully staffed, there are often long waits. That’s why Global Entry and the Mobile Passport Control app are so popular with frequent travelers. CBP officers are considered essential, but a government shutdown would still cause delays in processing travelers at airports and borders.
Passport and visa services
Reading the points above might make you wonder about getting a new or renewed passport or visa. If there’s a government shutdown, expect those applications to be significantly delayed as many of the government employees in those departments would be furloughed.
National Parks
Last month, the Trump administration fired around 1,000 National Park Service employees. According to the Associated Press, these workers were responsible for maintaining parks, educating visitors and performing other vital functions. If you’ve ever visited a U.S. national park, you know how special they are and how important they are to international tourism. During a government shutdown, these parks would be closed. As the National Park Service website stated in 2023, “In the event of a lapse in annual government appropriations, National Park Service (NPS) sites will be closed. This means that the majority of national parks will be closed completely to public access. Areas that, by their nature, are physically accessible to the public will face significantly reduced visitor services.”
Let’s just hope Congress will do the right thing and avoid shutting down the federal government. I don’t think they will, given one party has the majority in both houses, but with this Republican administration, you never know what they’ll do.
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