Passengers pass through the TSA pre-screening entrance at Terminal 1 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on February 1, 2017.
Armando L. Sanchez | Chicago Tribune | Getty Images
A major U.S. airline group said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security gave travelers little warning before suspending its PreCheck and Global Entry programs starting Sunday as most airlines shut down.
The suspension of DHS-run programs will begin at 6 a.m. ET (11 a.m. GMT), following a partial shutdown that began last week after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reform.
“American airlines are deeply concerned that the traveling public will once again be used as a political football as another government shutdown continues,” CEO Chris Sununu said in a statement.
He added in a statement that the suspension was “very short notice for travelers, giving them little time to plan accordingly” and called on Congress to “closing a deal.”
A similar shutdown last fall cost the travel industry and related sectors $6.1 billion, he said.
“TSA and Customs and Border Protection are prioritizing general travelers at airports and ports of entry and suspending ceremonial and privileged escorts,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement.
“We are making tough but necessary personnel and resource decisions to mitigate damage,” he added in a Department of Homeland Security statement to Reuters.
The suspension of the program is one of the emergency steps DHS is taking to make staffing changes more than a week after Congress failed to send additional funding, The Washington Post reported.
TSA announced that as of 2024, PreCheck has more than 20 million active members and the total number of airline passengers vetted by DHS traveler programs, including Global Entry, has exceeded 40 million.
The PreCheck program allows approved passengers to pass through dedicated, faster security lanes at U.S. airports and is designed to reduce wait times and streamline screening.
Global Entry expedites U.S. customs and immigration clearance for pre-approved, low-risk international travelers entering the United States.
Sunday’s move comes after the Trump administration last week ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency, another component of DHS, to suspend sending aid workers to disaster areas due to the government shutdown.
