MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
So what's it like for travelers as TSA officers continue to go without pay? Two weeks ago, we sent producer Milton Guevara to a few major airports to experience the security lines for himself. He never stood in a line longer than 30 minutes. Then we sent him out again, this time to more airports in different parts of the country. He filed this report.
MILTON GUEVARA, BYLINE: It felt like deja vu. When I arrived at Dallas International Airport just outside Washington, D.C., on Thursday, no big lines.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: As we make our decent down to Atlanta also, again, make sure...
GUEVARA: My second stop, as it was two weeks ago, was Atlanta. That's where I met history professor Brandi Simpson, who had just passed through security. She was making her way to a conference, and her colleagues warned her that lines at Hartsfield-Jackson were really bad.
BRANDI SIMPSON: They had horrific delays, and they've also heard from other colleagues who were traveling out of Atlanta that it would be at least two hours in the TSA line.
GUEVARA: But in her case...
SIMPSON: It took three (laughter) minutes. Instead of three hours, it was three minutes.
GUEVARA: Simpson's experience seemed a lot like mine the first time I went through Atlanta. She had just missed hourslong lines that morning - lines confirmed to me by my flight crew for my next stop, Houston's Hobby Airport.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: On behalf of this flight crew and Southwest Airlines, I'd like to welcome you to Houston Hobby.
GUEVARA: Videos of long lines at Hobby have gone viral over the weeks. But when I got there...
Just eyeballing it, like, there's no line. It looks fine.
I saw plenty of cowboy hats but almost no lines. I learned through airport officials that they have received reinforcements through TSA's National Deployment Force, which shuffles officers to short-staffed airports. It's been one of the ways the agency has responded to the partial DHS shutdown, which made me wonder, am I ever going to find these long lines everyone keeps talking about? Enter George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
AUTOMATED VOICE: Please stand clear of the doorway.
GUEVARA: Stepping off the train at terminal E, my fellow travelers and I finally joined the long security lines my editors had expected.
MICHAEL SIMONS: I see an hour line wait, 45 minutes, something like that.
GUEVARA: Michael Simons was visiting family, so he flies in and out of this airport often.
SIMONS: Normally, I come through here in 10 minutes.
GUEVARA: It took us just over 50 minutes to get through standard security. Luckily, Simons planned for this.
SIMONS: Doing emails and having a bloody mary.
GUEVARA: At 5 a.m.
SIMONS: 5 a.m. You bet. Might as well start early.
GUEVARA: When I finally boarded my plane, the airport's website said that the wait at terminal E had climbed to 200 minutes. Having dodged that, I flew to airport No. 5.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Welcome to Orlando.
GUEVARA: It's spring break. And TSA officers in Orlando are seeing a lot of Mickey Mouse ears. They keep smiling, even though they're working without pay.
OB: We did lose a few people, as far as, you know, call-offs and things like that.
GUEVARA: That's OB. He's a transportation security officer at Orlando International Airport. He asked that we only use his initials because he's not authorized to speak to the media.
OB: We felt it on some days, but other days, you know, we've kind of picked up the pace and did the best we could. You know, for the most part, we were getting it done, man. We were getting it done.
GUEVARA: Despite his optimism, he says officers are feeling the financial pinch, especially since there was a long government shutdown at the end of last year.
OB: People are just - were just getting caught up on paying their bills, paying their mortgages, their rent, just getting caught up. And then all of a sudden, we get hit again.
GUEVARA: Yeah, officers like him keep things moving. It took me about 10 minutes to get through security at Orlando.
UNIDENTIFIED TSA OFFICER: iPads and laptops coming out your bag.
GUEVARA: Landing at JFK Airport in New York City late Friday, the lines were about 20 minutes long, despite reports of hourslong delays earlier that day. The next morning, it took me about that long to get through security for my flight back to Washington, D.C. - more evidence that finding long security lines is a moving target.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: It's been our pleasure having you on board with us today. We hope to see you all again soon.
GUEVARA: On my way out of Dulles, I checked the security lines one last time. There were more TSA officers than travelers.
Milton Guevara, NPR News, Atlanta, Houston, Orlando, New York and Washington.
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