The number of TSA airport screeners missing work has hit 10 percent as the partial government shutdown stretches into its fifth week.
The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that Sunday's absence rate compared to 3.1 percent on the comparable Sunday a year ago.
The workers who screen passengers and their bags face missing another paycheck if the shutdown doesn't end early this week. According to TSA, many of them say the financial hardship is preventing them from reporting to work.
TSA says the national average waiting time in airport checkpoint lines is within the normal limit of 30 minutes, but there are longer lines at some airports.
The agency has dispatched extra screeners to airports in Atlanta, Miami, and Newark, New Jersey.