SHUTDOWN SHUTS MIA CHECKPOINT
The security checkpoint at Concourse G at Miami International Airport was closed Saturday afternoon because of the TSA staff shortage related to the government shutdown. More cuts are feared.
Miami International Airport’s Concourse G closed at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday — 15 minutes earlier than planned — as the federal government remained shut down for a 22nd day, making it the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
Airport officials decided to shutter the concourse for the afternoon in the face of a shortage of Transportation Safety Administration officers, who have been working without pay for three weeks and are missing more shifts as the shutdown drags on.
The closure allowed the airport to send TSA workers to busier checkpoints.
Concourse G — used by United, Bahamasair, Aruba Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Sun Country — is the least busiest of the terminals; about 12 planes usually fly out of G after 1 p.m., making up just 3 percent of the roughly 450 flights from MIA on a typical day.
As 1 p.m. approached on Saturday, TSA agents turned passengers away from Concourse G’s checkpoint and told them to head to F or H. At 12:45 p.m., TSA agents spread large, red “NO ENTRY” signs across the metal detectors and filed out of the concourse. The inside of the concourse looked deserted. Security lines at F and H checkpoints remained normal despite the extra foot traffic.
Miami International Airport’s Concourse G closed Saturday afternoon because of the federal government shutdown so TSA agents could be sent to busier terminals. It will reopen for morning flights on Sunday.
Concourse G will reopen for morning flights on Sunday. It will close again at 1 p.m. Sunday and then reopen for morning flights Monday. At that point, the airport’s directors will decide whether to fully open Concourse G during the week or keep it partially closed. Airport spokesperson Greg Chin said if more TSA agents continue to miss work, MIA may be forced to close a security checkpoint at concourses J or D, which could mean more significant disruptions.
While Concourse G is closed, so are its restaurants and shops. Workers at those shops are being relocated to work in other areas of the airport temporarily. Those businesses may have to cut shifts for workers if the concourse remains closed through the week, as a ripple effect of the chaos in Washington D.C.
Like other federal workers considered essential, TSA screeners have been working without pay throughout a shutdown that began Dec. 22.
President Donald Trump continues to demand Congress sign off on $5 billion for a wall on the southern border as part of the legislative package needed to fund parts of the government for another year. Congressional Democrats aren’t budging on their opposition to the wall. On Friday, federal workers, including MIA TSA agents, missed their first paychecks.
Taylor Dolven: 305-376-2052, @taydolven