Aviation Support Services NAICS 4881

Mar 20, 2026 - Partial Government Shutdown Hampering TSA

• A partial government shutdown has left TSA officers across the US without pay, and workers and travelers alike are suffering while Washington's funding standoff drags on with no resolution in sight. Nationally, roughly 10% of all TSA officers have called out daily by mid-March, with some major airports seeing absences well above 40%, according to TSA data. The staffing crisis is cascading into significant passenger delays, with wait times at some airports exceeding two hours, and in Philadelphia, three of six TSA checkpoints were shuttered entirely. Acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl warned that if absences continue to rise, some airports could face full closure - a scenario that would represent an unprecedented disruption to American air travel. The financial toll will likely be steep: last year’s shutdown resulted in more than $6 billion in economic losses, according to the US Travel Association.
• US airlines enter 2026 with deepening divides between premium and budget travel, as carriers intensify efforts to attract higher-spending customers while managing weaker demand at the budget end. Airlines are expanding airport lounges, first-class cabins, adding extra-legroom seating, and betting that wealthier travelers will remain resilient even if the economy softens. Delta and United continue to capture nearly all US airline profits, while lower-cost carriers face greater exposure to price-sensitive consumers. Airfares are expected to remain largely flat compared with 2025, according to American Express Global Business Travel. Struggling Spirit Airlines is in its second bankruptcy in under a year, with analysts doubting its survival as a standalone carrier. Meanwhile, Southwest is overhauling its long-standing model with assigned seating and bag fees, American is investing heavily in lounges, new aircraft and Wi-Fi, and airlines broadly are tightening loyalty benefits, reinforcing what executives describe as a “K-shaped” airline economy.

• The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) push to hire thousands of new air traffic controllers amid a shortage has proved fruitful in terms of promising candidates, but the agency is having trouble finding enough qualified instructors to train them. After launching a hiring blitz in mid-March, the FAA has referred 8,300 candidates for testing, while increasing the agency’s training academy roster in Oklahoma City by 30% to 550 students as of July. However, the agency’s goal of hiring 8,900 new controllers by 2028 is slow going because instructors must be previous certified controllers themselves with on-the-job airport experience. Instructors have historically worked days that can last up to twelve hours with low pay, a tough sell for many qualified instructors. It takes four years to be certified as a controller, and a recent FAA workforce plan revealed the current pace will only yield 1,000 instructors by the deadline.
• The union for United Airlines’s flight attendants voted down a proposed new contract offering them a 26% raise along with a one-time retroactive bonus and an additional holiday. United flight attendants have not received a pay increase since 2020. The airline and the union representing 28,000 cabin and crew members had agreed to a tentative deal in May, but 71% of voting members still elected to axe the deal as not good enough two months later. The union says it will now survey its employees to see what kind of contract is acceptable for the next round of talks. Industry observers were surprised that the union rejected a hefty pay raise, but flight attendants are adamant that it is not enough to reward them for years of service to the company. The proposed offer is on par with other recent airline/union agreements, putting both sides in tenuous positions.