Americans in for travel nightmare as severe weather, TSA freeze cause canceled flights, ground stops
Americans in for travel nightmare as severe weather, TSA freeze cause canceled flights, ground stops
Dangerous storms and the TSA pay freeze have forced more than 2,000 flights to be canceled across the country as major airports were paralyzed by ground stops Monday morning.
Flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport ground to a halt, while George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston was experiencing ground delays, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
On top of the thousands of canceled flights, there were more than 9,500 delays nationwide, Duffy said.
Late winter storms are battering the eastern half of the US on Monday and Tuesday.
The Midwest was dealing with blizzard conditions while the Eastern part of the US was facing severe thunderstorms expected to bring volatile winds and flooding, according to AccuWeather.
About 200 million people would be affected, the weather service said.
Flyers were already dealing with travel headaches in the US as airport security officers were forced to work without pay because of a partial government shutdown, leading around 300 workers to quit.
The Homeland Security Department’s funding lapsed on Feb. 13 after Congress failed to strike a deal on immigration enforcement reforms that Democrats want.
Footage shows passengers in line outside Austin-Bergstrom International Airport as they waited to get through security early Monday morning.
Airport staff advised travelers to show up at least 2 and a half hours before domestic flights at the time, though security lines were back to normal by late morning, according to Austin-Bergstrom’s X account.
The Trump administration has laid the blame on the TSA hiccups on Democrats for the partial funding stop.







