The U.S. federal shutdown has lasted more than a month. Workers in the Transportation Security Administration and in the air traffic control system have not been paid, and their spirits are buckling.
The exhaustion and deprivation are starting to show. We've seen flight delays of as long as 12 hours in Orlando, 3-hour lines for security at Houston, and ground delays in Dallas, Los Angeles, Austin, Nashville, Newark, and elsewhere.
As the hallmarks of a civilized travel system crumble for the lack of a functional Congress with a functional budget, the federal shutdown is increasingly gumming up the busy lives of U.S. travelers.
If you have to fly during the shutdown, arm yourself with as much advance information as you can so that you can arrive with plenty of time. These websites will keep you apprised of the situation ahead of you.
1. Your airline's website
Your airline posts the most authoritative information about the current status of your flight. Be sure to download the carrier's mobile app as well.
Make sure your email address is in your airline account profile so that you can be reached with late-breaking changes, and sign up for text alerts for the flight if that option is offered.
2. National Airspace System Status
Even during the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration maintains a webpage that lists the status of the nation's major airports at nasstatus.faa.gov.
If an airport is closed or departures are generally delayed for any reason (including weather-related issues and slowdowns unrelated to staffing), the NASS will list the status in real time.
The listings can be thick with industry codes you won't understand, so switch to "Map View" for a cleaner visualization of the current trouble spots.'
The flight tracker website FlightAware also maintains a live "Misery Map" of the worst major airports for delays and cancellations. From that page, you can track individual flights as long as you know the airline and flight number.
3. Your departing airport's official website
A lot of webpages will claim to tell you the average wait time for TSA security checks, but their figures are based on normal operations. For example, website FlightQueue tries to furnish TSA wait times, but relies on "estimates based on historical data, AI analysis, and current airport conditions."
There are only a few sources that maintain live estimates of TSA wait times based on observations made from moment to moment.
The government's official MyTSA app usually provides live wait times for security lines at airports nationwide, but during the shutdown, the app is not being maintained.
A few years ago, there were also two crowdsourced apps that provided independently verified wait times. One of them, App in the Air, closed down a year ago; the second, MiFlight, has been removed from the App Store. So those are no longer options.
Fortunately, many official airport websites have stepped in to fill the gap.
Airport sites are now the best sources for obtaining live wait times for security—but not all airports participate.
You will now often find live TSA wait times featured as a major service on many airport websites, including New York's LaGuardia, Houston's Bush, Salt Lake City, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, Newark, JFK, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, and many smaller airports.
However, there are still some major airports that don't help passengers by posting current TSA wait times. (We're looking at you, Chicago O'Hare and Logan in Boston. Don't you think it's time to keep your customers updated? Can't you find an intern to go check the current wait times and throw us a bone?)
4. CBP Airport Wait Times
To monitor likely wait times for Customs and Border Protection inspection when you land in the U.S. from another country, check the agency's CBP Airport Wait Times at awt.cbp.gov.
That site won't give you live wait times, but it can generate a spreadsheet that lists recent wait times. Currently, the data provided is about a week old.
5. Refund and compensation policies
Frommer's has collected each major airline's policy for rebooking and refunds during the FAA-mandated flight reduction crisis—find those temporary policies at this link.
You can also find each airline's policies for cancellations and delays, including whether you'll be entitled to assistance or compensation, at the Department of Transportation's Airline Customer Service Dashboard (www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/airline-customer-service-dashboard).