HOUSTON – A dramatic shift at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport surprised travelers Saturday night. TSA security lines that stretched for hours earlier this week had shrunk to just 10 to 15 minutes.
KPRC 2 News reporter Corley Peel was inside Terminal A, where checkpoint lines were nearly empty. Despite the shorter waits, some families were not taking any chances and arrived at the airport hours, or even an entire night, ahead of their flights.
“It’s been dead. There’s nobody here,” said traveler David De Los Santos.
De Los Santos and his family arrived nearly 11 hours before their early morning flight to Tokyo, fearing a repeat of the long lines seen earlier this week.
“We didn’t want to miss the flight. It leaves at five in the morning, so we showed up early, like at six o’clock this afternoon, just to make sure I can get in line in enough time,” he said.
Jared Oubre’s family also opted to spend the night at the airport rather than risk a morning rush with young children.
“We’d just try to get through security and sleep at our gate so that we don’t have to stand in line with our young children,” Oubre said.
It remains unclear exactly why lines have shortened significantly, but Wednesday President Donald Trump signed an emergency order to pay TSA agents as soon as Monday.
Meanwhile, lawmakers remain at a standstill over Department of Homeland Security funding. The Senate approved a plan to fund TSA and other homeland security agencies, but the House has not agreed, prolonging the government shutdown.
TSA agents have gone more than a month without pay, leading to increased callouts and fewer staff at security checkpoints — contributing to the hours-long lines earlier this week.
De Los Santos said the funding delay was disappointing.
“I think it’s a really good thing. I think that it’s pretty unfortunate that they’ve gone this long without getting paid to begin with. It’s just disappointing knowing that our government’s failing our workers, our people,” he said.
Oubre said he is hopeful the shorter lines remain through the morning.
“We’ll just try to be ahead of it,” he said.
It is unclear how long the shorter wait times will last. Travelers are encouraged to check the Houston Airports website and app regularly to monitor TSA wait times and to allow extra time to get through security regardless of current line conditions.