‘Insane and stressful:’ Atlanta airport passengers wait for over 2 hours in TSA lines
By Candace Mccowan
Published on March 17, 2026.
Travelers at the Atlanta airport experienced long security lines, with lines lasting over two hours long due to weather and a government shutdown, causing long waits at times of 127 minutes. The long lines were due to a weather-related ground stop at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and other factors such as business travel and spring break. The partial government shutdown is also contributing to the long lines. The union representing TSA workers, AFGE Local 554, predicts that the shortage will continue as workers are out of options. The airport wait times technology was also down for a while, forcing workers to manually input wait times.
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