Delta strips senators of VIP travel perks as they leave TSA workers unpaid

Delta Airlines has announced that it has suspended its stand-alone service for members of Congress. This comes as a partial government shutdown, resulting in the Department of Homeland Security not being funded, has stretched over a month. With the DHS not being funded, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at airports nationwide are not being paid, callouts have increased, and security wait times have skyrocketed.

Delta, which is based in Atlanta, said in a statement, "Due to the impact on resources from the longstanding government shutdown, Delta will temporarily suspend specialty services to members of Congress flying Delta. Next to safety, Delta’s No. 1 priority is taking care of our people and customers, which has become increasingly difficult in the current environment," per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

A spokesperson for the company said that members of the House and Senate will now be treated like regular passengers. Among the perks afforded to Congressional members is the ability to skip TSA lines, as well as a dedicated desk to book trips, make last-minute changes to flights, and reserve seats on multiple flights on the same day. 

Senator John Cornyn said on the floor of the US Senate, "As many Americans probably don’t know, but most of us in Washington do know, airports around the country allow members of Congress to bypass the usual TSA security screening process at airports nationwide. In other words, they get to skip the line." 

With some major airports across the country urging passengers to arrive many hours early for their flights to account for security wait times, with lines sometimes stretching outside the building, Trump deployed ICE agents to help cut down on wait times. 

Delta CEO Ed Bastian signed onto an open letter earlier in March along with other airline executives criticizing Congress for the ongoing shutdown. They called air travel a "political football amid another government shutdown." 

"It’s past time for the government to make sure that TSA officers, U.S. Customs clearance officers at airports and air traffic controllers are paid for the job they do. In these times when it’s hard to reach consensus on just about anything, it is significant that the vast majority of Americans want Congress to pay federal aviation workers, keep our National Airspace System secure and ensure travelers and packages can get to their destinations safely," the letter stated.