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As Shutdown Keeps TSA Screeners Home, Miami’s Airport Is Closing Off A Terminal

Associated Press
A Transportation Security Administration officer works at a checkpoint at Miami International Airport, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, in Miami. The TSA acknowledged an increase in the number of its employees calling off work during the partial government shutdown.

With more federal security screeners refusing to work without pay, Miami International Airport plans to cut off access to one of its terminals over the weekend in order to send TSA workers to busier checkpoints, a spokesman said Thursday night.

Closing of the security checkpoint at Terminal G is set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, in what would be the 22nd day of a partial shutdown of the federal government. Federal screeners are calling in sick at double the normal rate for Miami, and TSA managers aren’t confident they will have enough workers to operate all 11 checkpoints at normal hours throughout the airport, said MIA spokesman Greg Chin.

“We felt we had to make a decision before the weekend,” Chin said. “They’re erring on the side of caution.”

Terminal G, used by United, Bahamasair and other airlines, will reopen for morning flights on Sunday. It will then close again at 1 p.m., Chin said. The plan is to repeat the schedule Monday, with the possibility of the hours returning to normal during the week.

Read more at our news partner, the Miami Herald

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