When airline CEOs urge Congress to end the standoff and pay airport security officers, the public framing is civic duty. The private calculus is margins. Carriers are lobbying to end the DHS shutdown not because they care first about TSA workers but because sickouts and slowdowns at security checkpoints directly hit their revenue and operations. Reuters and industry statements have made that clear: unpaid screeners mean longer lines, missed connections, and lost bookings. Follow the money.
Airline CEOs Want the Shutdown Over Because Delays Hit Revenue
Chris Sununu, CEO of Airlines for America, urged lawmakers to act with urgency, saying America’s transportation security workforce is too important to be used as political leverage. The U.S. Travel Association’s Geoff Freeman called it unacceptable not to pay airport security workers and noted that TSA officers earn an average of $35,000 and simply cannot afford to miss a paycheck. The moral case is real. So is the business case. Approximately 50,000 TSA screeners have been working without pay; rising absences have created longer-than-normal security lines, with some locations reporting waits exceeding three hours. Reuters reported that airlines and travel groups have warned of risks to air traffic as the partial shutdown persists. When security lines back up, flights are missed, connections break, and passengers blame the airlines. Carriers have every incentive to get TSA paid so that checkpoints run smoothly again.
Airlines expected 171 million passengers during spring travel in 2026, up 4% year-over-year. That volume depends on TSA showing up. When screeners call in sick, take second jobs, or quit—as more than 300 had since the shutdown began—the system strains. Reuters and MarketScreener documented airlines urging Congress to fund the government and warning of the impact of TSA workers going unpaid. The message is framed as concern for workers and travellers; the subtext is that the industry cannot afford another month of long lines and bad headlines.
Sickouts and Slowdowns Directly Threaten Carrier Operations
TSA officers are not on strike, but when workers are unpaid, absences rise. Around 1,110 TSA officers resigned during the October–November 2025 shutdown. In the 2026 shutdown, Philadelphia closed a terminal checkpoint due to staffing; Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans, and other hubs saw long delays. Every hour of delay at security is an hour of lost connectivity and potential revenue for the airlines. Carriers lobby to end the standoff because unpaid TSA workers threaten their margins—not out of civic duty first, but because the operational risk is real and immediate.
In a March 2026 open letter to Congress, the CEOs of American, United, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, and cargo carriers FedEx, UPS, and Atlas Air wrote that too many travellers were facing extraordinarily long and painfully slow checkpoint lines and called for immediate funding of the Department of Homeland Security. Some airports have closed security checkpoints; others are raising money to help TSA workers buy food and essentials while they go without pay. Newark reported higher-than-normal delays; Houston Hobby and New Orleans had security lines exceeding two hours. The Department of Homeland Security’s funding lapsed on February 13 after Congress failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms.
The Public Framing Versus the Private Calculus
The public framing is “pay our security officers.” The private calculus is avoiding travel chaos and lost bookings. Both can be true. Airlines for America and the U.S. Travel Association are right that TSA workers deserve to be paid and that the shutdown is damaging. They are also right that the damage to the industry is severe. When airline CEOs lobby Congress, they are defending their interests. That does not make the cause wrong; it explains why they are at the table. Follow the money: carriers want the DHS shutdown over because unpaid TSA workers threaten their margins.
What This Actually Means
Airline CEOs want the DHS shutdown over because sickouts and slowdowns at security checkpoints directly hit their revenue and operations. The civic argument—that TSA workers should be paid—is genuine, but the business argument is what drives the intensity of the lobbying. When the industry speaks, it is worth listening to both.
What Is Airlines for America?
Airlines for America (A4A) is the principal trade group for the largest U.S. passenger and cargo airlines. It represents carriers in Washington on policy issues including safety, security, infrastructure, and regulation. When A4A’s CEO, Chris Sununu, urges Congress to end the government shutdown and pay TSA workers, he is speaking for an industry that depends on smooth airport security operations. The group’s members have a direct interest in ensuring that TSA is funded and staffed so that security lines move and flights operate on time. In the 2026 DHS shutdown, A4A was among the industry voices warning that unpaid screeners would harm both workers and the travelling public—and by extension airline operations and revenue.
Sources
Reuters, Reuters (travel groups), MarketScreener, Reuters (TSA pay), The New York Times