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Special Report · March 2026

When the TSA stopped showing up

Each dot is a US airport. Each particle represents roughly 25 TSA officers absent that day — calling out, walking off, or already resigned. Drag the timeline to watch the March 2026 DHS shutdown ripple across the country, from the first checkpoint consolidations to the missed-paycheck spike on March 14. Particles accumulate as the month wears on.

Published 2026-03-31 · DHS funding lapsed 2026-02-14

March 1, 2026
6.8%
national TSA callouts
MAR 1MAR 14MAR 31
Day 1
of 31
28m
avg wait
110
missed flights
18
closed
Worst today
JFK
3%
LGA
3%
MSY
3%
ORD
2%
EWR
2%
Callout severity
<8% baseline
8–15% elevated
15–25% disruption
25–40% severe
40%+ critical
≈433 cumulative absences through Mar 1
21.4%
Peak national callout rate (Mar 8)
76%
Worst single-airport rate (JFK)
9,140
Estimated delayed flights
2.84M
Travelers affected

Hardest-hit airports in March

#AirportAvg calloutsPeak
1JFK28.4%76%
2EWR22.1%53%
3HOU19.6%50%
4MSY17.4%38%
5ATL14.2%32%
6LGA13.6%28%
7IAH13.1%28%
8CLT12.4%26%
9BOS11.8%24%
10PHL11.2%24%

Timeline of the month

  1. Checkpoint consolidation begins · March 5
    8.6% national callouts · 36 min avg wait · 198 missed flights
  2. Nor'easter slams East Coast · March 7
    14.8% national callouts · 58 min avg wait · 412 missed flights
  3. JFK hits 76% callout rate · March 8
    21.4% national callouts · 71 min avg wait · 612 missed flights
  4. Global Entry partially restored · March 11
    10.6% national callouts · 41 min avg wait · 244 missed flights
  5. First missed paycheck · March 14
    18.7% national callouts · 64 min avg wait · 522 missed flights
  6. Spring break peak · March 20
    11% national callouts · 42 min avg wait · 256 missed flights
  7. 300+ resignations confirmed · March 30
    8.2% national callouts · 35 min avg wait · 184 missed flights

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JFK saw a 76% TSA officer callout rate on March 8, 2026 — the highest single-day rate of any US airport during the shutdown.

21.4% of TSA officers nationwide called out on March 8, the day a Nor'easter compounded existing shutdown staffing shortages.

9,140 flights were delayed and 2.84M travelers affected by TSA staffing shortages during the March 2026 DHS shutdown.

300+ TSA officers formally resigned during the shutdown — the agency was already 4,000 officers short of its target.

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Methodology

Per-airport callout rates blend FlightQueue's continuous monitoring of TSA checkpoint throughput with public reporting from the March 2026 DHS shutdown. The national baseline rate of about 2% reflects pre-shutdown averages.

Each animated particle represents roughly 25 TSA officers either calling out or having resigned that day. Wait-time figures are 24-hour averages across all open lanes, weighted by checkpoint throughput. Worst-case spikes (such as JFK on March 8 and Houston Hobby on March 14) match the single-day callout rates reported during the shutdown.

The simplified US outline behind the dots is for visual reference only — distances and projections are not cartographically precise. Hover any airport to see its current officer count and absentee total.

Don't get stuck in a shutdown line

FlightQueue tracks live TSA wait times for thousands of airports and pings you the moment your checkpoint starts backing up.

Live TSA wait timesRead the shutdown guide