CEOs of top airlines demand Congress restore funding to Homeland Security and pay airport workers

NEW YORK — In order to compensate federal aviation employees, including airport security officers, during the partial government shutdown, the CEOs of the country's leading airlines, including American, Delta, Southwest, and JetBlue, are pleading with Congress to reinstate funding to the Department of Homeland Security and adopt a bipartisan solution.

In an open letter to Congress that appeared online and in The Washington Post on Sunday, the executives said, "Once again, air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown."

The letter, which was also signed by the CEOs of the cargo companies UPS, FedEx and Atlas Air, said that Congress should pass the Aviation Funding Solvency Act and the Aviation Funding Stability Act, which would guarantee air traffic controllers are paid regardless of the government’s funding status, as well as the Keep America Flying Act. Officers of the Transportation Security Administration entrusted with providing security and screening all travelers would receive the same protections under that measure.Putting food on the table, filling up the car with petrol, and paying the rent when you are unpaid is challenging, if not impossible, according to the letter.

Only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA, is impacted by the current partial closure. Due to concerns about the department's immigration enforcement strategies, Democrats in Congress declined to provide funding. The lapse marks the third shutdown in less than a year to leave TSA workers temporarily without pay — and once the government reopens, to have to wait for back pay.

Democratic lawmakers have said DHS won’t get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.

The CEOs stated that the stakes are high because spring vacation is in full flow, FIFA's World Cup 2026 is coming up, and America's 250th birthday is being celebrated all year long. The letter said that U.S. airlines expect 171 million passengers this spring season.

As the latest partial shutdown drags on, there have been long security lines at a growing number of U.S airports.

The TSA and Homeland Security have consistently blamed Democrats for the long security lines.

Homeland Security posted on its X account last week that more than 300 TSA agents have quit since the start of the shutdown.