Travelers experienced cancellations and delays all weekend at the San Luis County Regional Airport as airlines navigated through rain and wind.
Deputy Director of San Luis Obispo County Airports Craig Piper says most of the complications were coming out of San Francisco and Phoenix.
Flying in from Phoenix, dozens of passengers were told they’d need to stay behind on Monday.
“They said that the runway here in San Luis Obispo was wet and wouldn’t support the weight of the full plane so they had to weed us out,” said Bill McCann, who flew on a connecting flight from Phoenix.
“They were asking people if they would like to fly into Bakersfield and take a charter to San Luis Obispo,” said Aaron Brieno, who also flew in from Phoenix.
Whether the issue was rooted in Phoenix or San Luis Obispo, it was resolved. Once flyers were able to board their planes, the TSA agents checking them through security aren’t getting paid as the partial government shutdown enters its third week.
Across the country, there’s been an increase in TSA agents calling in sick.
“I got on in El Paso, Texas and I noticed they had border patrol working, doing the job TSA normally does,” McCann said.
Locally, security seems to be running smoothly. Piper says that has the potential to change, depending on how much longer the shutdown lasts.
“We do have people working that are not getting paid, which is truly unfortunate. We hope that Congress and the President will come to a resolution as quickly as possible,” Piper said.
The TSA says so far there has not been a significant impact on airport wait times or security standards.
