Senate reaches deal to fund the DHS, but flyers still face turbulence
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A last-second TSA deal doesn't mean we've seen the last of the travel problems.
After weeks of travel chaos (you thought four-hour lines were bad? You ain't seen nothing yet), the Senate has moved forward with a deal to free up funding for the Department of Homeland Security, teeing up legislation for the House to end the shutdown.
But that doesn't fully get us out of this TSA-themed hellhole.
Acting head of TSA Ha Nguyen McNeill said this week that more than 480 officers have quit since the shutdown started. And while that's a fraction of the TSA's roughly 50,000 agents, it's not nothing. In fact, McNeill warned that this summer's World Cup could become an issue.
It takes four to six months to train TSA officers, but the games start in less than three months. The math ain't mathing.
(Oh, you think that's too long to train a TSA officer? Take our quiz on what gets through airport security, tough guy.)
The TSA is only a piece of the current travel nightmare.
Even those planning trips months in advance face issues. Jet fuel prices have spiked to roughly $197 a barrel — well above their typical $100 average. And that's in addition to airlines having to rethink flight paths due to restricted airspace.
The result is airlines passing the costs down to all of us. (We've got a full list of the ones that have already announced airfares are going up.)
And good luck using that trusty old playbook of yours for booking trips. Travel and aviation experts are miffed about how to plan a summer trip this time around.
You're also not much better off hitting the highway, considering where gas prices are. (Yeah, we know, EV drivers.)
Ok, so maybe you just stay at home and order in. Although it might be tricky to find someone to grab your order. Delivery service companies are dangling incentives to support drivers who are fed up with high gas prices.