About 30 TSA officers leave jobs at Boston Logan Airport as shutdown takes its toll
At least 29 Transportation Security Administration officers have quit at Logan International Airport in Boston during the partial government shutdown, their union said, as officers nationwide begin to receive backpay for their time working without compensation.
The ongoing shutdown has strained TSA staffing in recent weeks, causing hours-long security lines at some airports. But Logan Airport appeared to avoid the worst of the turmoil. Lines were minimal at security checkpoints in multiple terminals last week.
“Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA and thousands were forced to call out,” acting TSA Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said this week, according to the Associated Press , in announcing the delayed payday.
At some airports, more than 40% of TSA agents reportedly called out of work last week as the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security dragged on.
Far fewer agents called out of work at Logan and other New England airports, said Mike Gayzagian, the president of the union representing TSA officers across New England.
He said Logan Airport’s call-out rates had recently been around 6%.
The union represents about 1,000 TSA officers at Logan and about 2,300 total across New England.
Even as other airports faced short staffing and long security lines, travelers encountered minimal waits in Terminal B at Logan International Airport in Boston, March 25, 2026.(Will Katcher/MassLive)
Massport, which oversees Logan and other airports across Massachusetts, directed questions on TSA staffing to the TSA.
The agency did not respond to questions sent to it on Tuesday.
TSA employees had gone without pay since funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed in February.
President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the department to pay TSA officers immediately to ease the lines plaguing airports.
Trump had rejected bipartisan efforts to fund the TSA while negotiations over ICE continue with Democrats, who have refused to approve more funding without restraints on Trump’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations.
Trump’s order left other Homeland Security employees unpaid.
Democrats are demanding that ICE agents wear cameras, identify themselves and operate without masks. They also want judges to decide whether to issue their warrants, and they want ICE raids to avoid schools, churches or other sensitive places.
Republicans and the White House have been willing to negotiate on some points, but a final agreement remains elusive.
Since Trump’s order, members of the TSA union for New England, American Federation of Government Employees Local 2617, have received some of their back pay. They expect the remainder to arrive this week, Gayzagian said.
But he expected longer-term repercussions for the agency. The shutdown of Homeland Security funding followed a 43-day complete government shutdown in October and November, the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
“As far as recruitment goes, it remains to be seen how difficult it will be to bring in new people. I think much damage has been done, and it will be hard to find people willing to take a chance on this current unstable employment situation,” Gayzagian said. “My hope is Congress will take action to repair the damage as soon as possible.”
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