TSA officer absences due to ‘excessive callouts’ reached 10% over the holiday weekend, prompting the use of emergency TSA staff.
The TSA brought in National Deployment Force officers, who usually bolster on-duty security screening teams during natural disasters.
They were sent to assist with screening at major airports, including Newark, New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.
The normal absence rate at this time of year is about 3%.
"Some airports experienced longer than usual wait times," the TSA said, noting that average waiting times are within the 30 minute standard for regular screening lanes.
However wait times at some airports are exceeding this.
A security checkpoint at Baltimore was shut down on two occasions over the holiday weekend due to a lack of staff but reopened again on Monday.
The partial government shutdown is now into its fifth week.
