Newark Tops Airport Delays During Shutdown, TSA Says

The government shutdown seems to be hitting travelers at Newark Airport much harder than anywhere else in the region - with no relief in sight, either. 

The airport had the longest regular wait times for security screening of any major facility in America on Tuesday, the TSA said. 

While 97 percent of passengers nationwide waited less than 15 minutes, TSA said Wednesday, Newark travelers waited an average of 36 minutes to be screened. 

That was double the wait at JFK and more than triple the wait at LaGuardia.

Employee call-outs at TSA have risen sharply since the shutdown started, as staff seek paying work elsewhere. TSA said Tuesday's unscheduled absence rate nationwide was 6.1 percent, up from 3.7 percent on the same day a year earlier. (It does not break down absences by airport for security reasons.)

Tuesday's delay at Newark was worse than the 28-minute delay on Monday - which was again worst in the region, and fourth-worst in the country that day. 

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