The partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security could lead to the closure of small airports, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday morning on CNBC's Squawk Box.
DHS includes the Transportation Security Administration.
"TSA agents missed a partial payment. Last Friday they missed a full payment. As we get into next week, and they're about to miss another payment, this will look like child's play right now," Duffy said on the program. "You'll see small airports I believe shut down. You'll see extensive lines, and air travel will almost come to a grid halt, a stop."
TSA officers, which make up about 95 percent of TSA personnel, are considered essential workers and are required to show up for work even during government shutdowns when they no longer receive a paycheck. More than 300 have quit since the current partial shutdown began on Feb. 22.
Duffy also noted that in recent days an average of about 10 percent of TSA officers country-wide have called out, about five times the normal call-out rate. "But last weekend, it was only double the average call-out rate, so what I'm seeing is it's getting worse day by day," he said.
Still, Duffy said agents still were doing their job, "screening all the necessary people. It's just taking a longer-than-normal period of time. So, yes, it's safe," he said in response to a question about air safety. "But when you are going to travel by yourself, it's one thing. When you are traveling with kids, it just becomes very laborious. In places like Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, lines that are two, three, four hours long make travel just grinding."
Airlines for America, the lobbying group for several major U.S. carriers, said in a statement that "we appreciate the work of TSA to deploy personnel to specific airports needing staffing reinforcement; we have not yet seen any data indicating that airports will be forced to close due to staffing shortages. We remain hopeful that Congress will reach a bipartisan agreement and get TSA paid before their second $0 paycheck and before Congress leaves for a two-week break."
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