Flying into LAX - chaos due to partial government shut down?

sherilaine

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
We will be flying into and out of LAX next month. I am really hoping that all things are resolved long before that time and that all government employees are back to work and being paid. However, I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience with the airport as I have read there are concerns with TSA workers calling in sick and clearly being stressed with the current situation.

Perhaps it's too early for people to have had much in the way of experience on this yet and I am sure other airports are also seeing some concerns. So I am wondering if the shutdown continues for several more weeks how bad the situation may become and if anyone else is concerned?

Note: I am not trying to open a political debate whatsoever - just looking for experience with the situation.
 
Reports of TSA delays due to call outs and increased security lines are currently isolated to the smaller airports where they do not have additional support to cover. The larger airports are business as usual...so far.
 


Flew into LAX Monday, it's very much business as usual. I wouldn't have known about any staffing disruption. I'll update how our flight out on Wednesday goes!
 
I flew from my home airport in Michigan to SFO this week, and had typical experiences at both. (I fly a lot.) Tomorrow, I fly from SFO to LAX, and DD and DH are flying from MDW to LAX to meet me. I have been keeping an eye on TSA wait times at MDW and it seems totally fine. LAX seems normal, too, so far.
 
I am actually more concerned about flying a month out as it seems like the situation is still manageable now, from what I have seen on news sites. However, after another month things may be a lot more strained. It's good to hear that so far people are not being impacted.
 


We had a friend fly internationally into LAX that had issues, but that had to do with not enough staff to verify passports and visas. They were in line for four hours, missed their flight out of LAX, and ended up sleeping in the airport overnight. My DH flew within the country the same day and had no issues.
 
We had a friend fly internationally into LAX that had issues, but that had to do with not enough staff to verify passports and visas. They were in line for four hours, missed their flight out of LAX, and ended up sleeping in the airport overnight. My DH flew within the country the same day and had no issues.

Yes, see this is my concern - not the flying into LAX from Canada because we clear US customs in Calgary before we board our flight to LAX but it's the getting back that I am wondering about - I guess if I hear further such stories then we will make sure we are at the airport ridiculously early to try to avoid missing our return flight. Thanks for this info.
 
We fly out on Thursday from LAX, would be nice if this was resolved before then, but that doesn't look promising.

So, I suggest the following:
  • Show up earlier than normal
  • Be exceptionally kind to the TSA agents, they are working without pay after all and may not even know where their next meal is coming from.
  • Be polite to other passengers as well, it isn't their fault the government is shut down either
 
Yes, see this is my concern - not the flying into LAX from Canada because we clear US customs in Calgary before we board our flight to LAX but it's the getting back that I am wondering about - I guess if I hear further such stories then we will make sure we are at the airport ridiculously early to try to avoid missing our return flight. Thanks for this info.

Honestly, as long as I can get to my vacation, I can deal with finding alternate ways back if necessary.
 
I agree entirely - we are always very nice to the TSA agents as I know it's a stressful job regardless of pay. Now this is just added stress and it's very unfortunate. Patience definitely needs to be packed for travel during all of this!!
 
Yes, see this is my concern - not the flying into LAX from Canada because we clear US customs in Calgary before we board our flight to LAX but it's the getting back that I am wondering about - I guess if I hear further such stories then we will make sure we are at the airport ridiculously early to try to avoid missing our return flight. Thanks for this info.

The CBP agents that do pre-check in Canadian airports are still US government employees and affected by the partial shutdown. Like TSA agents, most are considered essential and are working without pay - so anything that could happen with TSA agents (e.g. low-morale, call-outs, etc.) could also happen with CBP agents in Calgary airport.
 
The CBP agents that do pre-check in Canadian airports are still US government employees and affected by the partial shutdown. Like TSA agents, most are considered essential and are working without pay - so anything that could happen with TSA agents (e.g. low-morale, call-outs, etc.) could also happen with CBP agents in Calgary airport.

Yes, I realize that. And that means showing up super early on this end as well. A lot of the customs process is heavily automated in Calgary though now at the new international terminal - which I think has made the process much easier but you still need that essential staff to show up and validate everything in person. The impact is far reaching that is for sure!!
 
Yes, I realize that. And that means showing up super early on this end as well. A lot of the customs process is heavily automated in Calgary though now at the new international terminal - which I think has made the process much easier but you still need that essential staff to show up and validate everything in person. The impact is far reaching that is for sure!!
LAX has automated a lot of it as well, last time I flew internationally, when i came back, I scanned my passport at a kiosk, showed my declaration form to a customs officer and left. Now there is an app for the phone that allow U.S. Citizens to even be able to bypass the Kiosk apparently with their own dedicated line when leaving customs.
 
Perhaps it's improved since last March then - although Canadians flying back to Canada go through customs when we get back into Canada - so we don't really do much on that end. I am really hoping though, much more for the sake of all the employees affected than inconvenience travelling on holiday, that this is resolved within the next month as that would be a very long shut down. Fingers crossed.
 

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