Impact of Possible Government Shutdowns and Boycotts on Holiday Travel

By: Cindy Medina

Photo by Olivia Anne Snyder on Unsplash

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that they anticipate this holiday season to be its busiest travel season ever. From November 17th through November 28th TSA expects to screen 30 million passengers. “We are ready for the anticipated volumes and are working closely with our airline and airport partners to make sure we are prepared for this busy holiday travel season. We will also do our best to maintain wait time standards of under 10 minutes for TSA PreCheck® lanes and under 30 minutes for standard screening lanes,” says TSA Administrator David Pekoske.

While TSA claims to be prepared, a possible government shutdown could lead to hectic airports and delays. Congress is currently in a race against time trying to agree on federal funding legislation. If they can not come to an agreement by this Friday many federal buildings and services could be affected. Airport workers are deemed essential; therefore, airports cannot shut down. However, it is important to note that airport workers such as TSA agents and controllers are not getting paid during a government shutdown. When a government shutdown occurred in 2018, many airport workers chose not to show up to work, leading to controller shortages, which limited flight landings in airports across the country.

Furthermore, activists pressuring for a ceasefire to happen in Palestine are organizing and encouraging people to avoid airplane travel this holiday season. They are explicitly calling out Southwest and Boeing. Boeing is a commercial airplane manufacturer and a weapons manufacturer that supplies weapons of war to Israel and Ukraine. Most airlines have a mixed fleet, but Southwest, in particular, has an exclusive partnership with Boeing. At the end of last month, Southwest ordered 108 additional Boeing 737 Max jets. Last week, protestors organized an action at a Boeing plant in Missouri, temporarily shutting it down for four hours.

So, while TSA expects a busy but smooth holiday travel season, a looming government shutdown and boycott actions could prove otherwise.