Line to get into Austin airport goes out the doors Friday morning

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The line to the Austin airport snaked out early Friday morning as travelers waited to pass through TSA checkpoints. By 7am the queues had thinned out but it was still expected to be a busy travel day.

The airport was expecting 35,000 departing passengers to pass through the airport on Friday due to festivals such as the South by Southwest conference and those traveling ahead of spring break.

While the airport has also been under construction for months, what is causing further concern is the partial government shutdown. Earlier this week, delays in the TSA line caused wait times of more than three hours at the Houston airport; Some passengers even went to Austin to catch a flight.

AUS Airport Deputy Chief Sam Haines said some of the effects of the closure are being felt here in Austin.

“The staffing levels that will be affected will be the Department of Homeland Security agencies at this airport. Those will be TSA and Customs and Border Protection,” Haines said. “So on the Customs and Border Protection side, Global Entry is not available during this partial government shutdown.

“TSA is here. They’re working. You can see people going through these checkpoints, but every day has the opportunity to be a little different.”

To ease congestion, AUS recently opened a fourth checkpoint at the west end of the terminal that only offers general TSA screening, not TSA PreCheck, or CLEAR.

The airport said its busiest days are predicted to occur in late March and early April and are expected to exceed 30,000 passengers in a few days.

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