Rep. Greg Stanton says Sky Harbor faring better than most airports amid TSA shortages

PHOENIX — An Arizona congressman said passengers are faring better at airport security checkpoints in Phoenix than at most major U.S. hubs amid a nationwide shortage of federal screeners.

“Thank goodness for the incredible workers at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Wednesday morning. “If you saw the situation around the country, there are airports that are getting hammered. There’s no two ways about it.”

Federal airport security screeners have been working for over a month without pay as lawmakers battle over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration.

TSA agents are classified as essential employees, so they are required to work even when their paychecks stop coming.

Senators are chasing a deal that would fund much of DHS, including TSA workers, but exclude the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that have been core to the dispute.

Democrats have been refusing to fully fund DHS without restraints on President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations.

While lawmakers butt heads, hundreds of TSA workers are quitting and callout rates are skyrocketing.

Rep. Greg Stanton applauds efforts at Sky Harbor security checkpoints

Sky Harbor opened a donation center to support federal employees who have been working without pay.

To deal with staffing shortages, two of the four security checkpoints in Terminal 4 have been closed since Friday, for the most part. Checkpoint D has been used only on a limited basis this week to process TSA PreCheck passengers.

Wait times, which can be found on the airport’s website, have been longer than usual but nowhere near the hourslong lines seen at some other large airports.

“At Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, the professionalism, the work the folks are doing have meant that we have been, of the major American airports, one of the airports that has been least affected,” said Stanton, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Aviation Subcommittee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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