Thousands waited for hours in security lines at airports in New Orleans and Houston.

Travelers wait in long security lines at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, on Sunday, March 8, 2026. Travelers at airports in Houston and New Orleans were greeted with hours of long waits early Sunday as the airports struggled to adequately staff security lines. (Steven Kenny/The New York Times)

By BILLY WITZ and SHANNON SIMS

Travelers at airports in Houston and New Orleans were greeted with hours of long waits early Sunday as the airports struggled to adequately staff security lines.

The lengthy delays come as spring break travel is ramping up and as Transportation Security Administration workers are going without pay for the second time in six months because of the partial shutdown of the federal government, which primarily affects the Department of Homeland Security.

At William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, long lines snaked through concourses, down stairs and through baggage claim. There were similar scenes at Louis Armstrong International Airport outside New Orleans as lines stretched into the parking garage. In Houston, only one security line was open early Sunday morning, and the TSA PreCheck line, which allows for expedited screening, was closed.

“We’ve been in line together for over an hour, and we’re not even halfway through,” said Tina Rizzo, who was trying to return home to Connecticut with her son, Carmine, after attending the World Baseball Classic in Houston.

Rizzo, who arrived at Hobby two hours before her flight, said in a phone interview that despite the frustration — and possibility of missed flights — people waiting in line were largely well behaved. She said she tried to maintain a sense of humor, even when she received an email from Southwest Airlines advising her to arrive at the airport three hours before her flight because of the delays at security. The email came an hour before her flight was scheduled to take off.

The Houston airport system on Sunday urged passengers departing from Hobby to arrive at least three to four hours before their flight in anticipation of long security wait times caused by the partial shutdown. It also said TSA PreCheck may be unavailable as a result of limited staffing.

A partial shutdown of the federal government began in February, as Democrats in Congress push for reforms to how the Trump administration conducts immigration enforcement. One of the departments affected is TSA, whose employees are required to show up for work, but won’t get paychecks until a funding deal is reached.

Uniformed TSA officers received about 30% of their pay last week and unless funding is restored, they will miss a paycheck next weekend.

“This is a nationwide problem,” said Johnny Jones, the secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 45,000 T.S.A officers. “Officers are having to make decisions on paying their bills.”

Jones said the shortage of workers in New Orleans and Houston on Sunday was not a coordinated effort.

In New Orleans, the lines rivaled those of big events like Mardi Gras or the Super Bowl. An airport employee walked a therapy dog along the wait line in the parking garage, encouraging passengers to give the dog, named Shug, a scratch behind the ears to relieve stress.

Nikoma Wolf was standing near the end of the line, debating if she should stick it out. “I have to go back to Dallas, and when I saw this line I was almost like, Should I just rent a car and drive at this point?” she said. “I could get there in eight hours if I don’t stop.”

Ailie Caldeira missed her 11:15 a.m. flight to Atlanta because of the delays in New Orleans. “I got here at 8:30, was in line by 9, but I realized it was going to take too long,” she said. “I wasn’t even to the top of the escalator and it was already 11 a.m. There was no hope.”

A spokesperson for the New Orleans airport, Erin Burns, said that the TSA was able to open all of its security lanes for a short period of time as workers from the morning shift overlapped with those from the evening shift. But that was short-lived.

“We’re expecting larger lines throughout the afternoon and we could continue to see impacts in coming days as long as the government shutdown continues,” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees TSA, blamed the delays on Democratic lawmakers.

“These political stunts force patriotic TSA officers, who protect our skies from serious threats, to work without pay,” Lauren Bis, a DHS spokesperson, said in a statement.

Jones said both parties are to blame. “This is an issue where officers are being held in the middle of a political tug of war,” he said.

The TSA app, which shows wait times for security screening at airports, has not always been updated during the government shutdown. Wait times on the app showed a 0-15 minute wait at Hobby and Armstrong when there were in fact long lines.

Wait times were normal at New York area airports Sunday morning, with the longest wait around 30 minutes, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Disruptions at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, which had the highest cancellation rate at 4%, appeared to be weather-related.