Often known as the safest way to travel, flying—and airports themselves—have recently become unreliable, unsafe, and honestly, downright confusing. Since the first week of March, college students all around the country have been traveling by plane for spring break, but I’ve heard horror stories about missing flights due to long Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines and cancellations. There were even some people I knew who couldn’t make it back in time for classes on Monday. So what’s actually going on at airports, and how can you prepare for future flights?
Since February 14, funding has been frozen for the Department of Homeland Security (which runs TSA) due to budget disputes. This partial government shutdown is at the root of many of these airport problems. TSA employees have been forced to show up for work but receive no pay, leading many to just quit or not show up at all. This has resulted in extremely long security lines. Before spring break, I was seeing so many TikToks of how long these lines were, with captions explaining that people arrived the suggested two hours before a domestic flight and still missed their plane. Thankfully, the lines were less than ten minutes when I flew out of both PIT and FLL for my trip, but it was still a stressful experience.
This stress has gotten a million times worse for many travelers this past week because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were spotted in airports all across the country, including Pittsburgh. 14 ICE agents were deployed at PIT last week, in both plain clothes and uniforms. These agents were sent by President Trump to “help with TSA”—aka check documents as people went through security—but their very presence sows fear and continued distrust in airports. It was stressed that the Pittsburgh airport has been able to manage TSA lines so far, and ICE’s help was not requested.
As if there wasn’t enough craziness in the airports themselves, there unfortunately was a fatal crash at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday, March 22. An Air Canada plane was taxiing down the runway after landing and crashed into a firetruck that was going to check on a different plane. The Air Canada plane collided nose-first into the truck, and its two pilots perished, with dozens of others injured. At the time of the crash, two air traffic controllers were stationed in LaGuardia’s tower and had to juggle multiple roles, leading to a miscommunication about the truck and plane’s locations. While not a direct result of government shutdown understaffing, this moment only adds to travelers’ concerns. Low staff—and them being stressed while they’re working—is a common theme for both TSA and air traffic control, and it has compounded to create an unreliable and potentially unsafe flying environment.
Both New York and Pittsburgh are critical areas of travel in the upcoming months too. The New York metropolitan area, more specifically MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ (shoutout my home state!), will be hosting the FIFA World Cup Final in July—the biggest soccer event in the world. Nearby airports like Newark, JFK, and LaGuardia will probably see an astonishing influx of travelers. Similarly, Pittsburgh is hosting the 2026 NFL Draft in April. Our city is expected to host 500-700k new visitors, and I imagine the airport will struggle to accommodate this many people as well.
So what can you do if you have a flight coming up? First, check the TSA wait times for the airport you’re flying out of; PIT’s is available here. Also, double-check that you have the right documents to make your TSA process as smooth as possible. For my recent flights, I put my passport in the front pocket of my personal item for easy access as I went through lines. Additionally, stay up to date on the news to learn whether ICE is stationed at the airport or not. If their presence or any recent crashes have you extremely worried, look for alternative forms of travel—if possible, of course—or choose closer travel locations if you want a quick getaway. For example, Pitt students traveling home at the end of the semester can take the Amtrak towards New York or Chicago, with plenty of stops along the way and connections available in both cities. If you’re a senior who’s planning a post-grad trip, maybe make it a road trip instead of a flight-based journey; road trips have a special charm to them, and it can be a great way to spend some extra time with friends before you go your separate ways.
Above all, stay safe, stay informed, and let’s hope the partial government shutdown ends soon!