TAMPA, Fla. — On a Tuesday at Tampa International, dozens of passengers made their way through the main terminal, including Joan O’Connell.
“I’m traveling back to DC,” said Joan.
But, she said, plans changed.
“The plan was tomorrow, but I’m actually going back tonight,” she said.
“And why is that?” asked Tampa Bay 28 reporter Mary O’Connell.
“I’m worried about the shutdown and getting stuck,” said Joan.
WATCH: As government shutdown looms, questions arise over impacts on travel
Other travelers at TPA had mixed feelings about a potential government shutdown.
“I’m sure they will have some type of an impact,” said passenger Debbie Biffle. “I’m just glad we’re traveling today.”
“The government always comes together in the end,” said passenger David Bingham.
Tampa International Airport said it’s closely monitoring the impending shutdown, which will affect employees of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and Customs and Border Protection.
However, TPA stated that the majority of these federal employees are considered essential and must still report to work, so they don’t expect any impacts to airport operations.
“First and foremost, you’re likely as a traveler not going to feel the effects immediately,” said Katy Nastro, a spokesperson at the Going travel app.
As a shutdown looms, Tampa Bay 28 took your questions to travel experts.
Nastro said that if a prolonged shutdown occurred, that’s when you could expect to see things like longer TSA wait times and delays.
“If you’re expected to show up to work day after day and not getting compensated for it and not understanding when you might see that next paycheck, we could start to see frustrated workers call out sick, not show up, kind of have a standoff, which is what we saw in previous shutdowns in 2018, 2019," said Nastro.
Nastro explained we’re in what they call “shoulder season,” where they’re seeing fewer people traveling in general. Still, the longer a potential shutdown were to continue, the bigger the impacts could be.
Aside from air travel, another impact to keep an eye on is the country’s national parks.
“With an already skeleton crew manning these parks, we want people to understand that if parks continue to operate and there are even fewer people operating them, we’re likely going to see things like trash build up, sanitation issues,” said Nastro.
Passengers are hopeful for a resolution, as what happens next hangs in the balance.
“Living in DC, shutdowns, I definitely see them and their effect on everyday people,” said Joan. “They affect more people than you realize.”
Share Your Story with Mary
Mary O’Connell has a primary focus on education-related stories for Tampa Bay 28. But she also keeps an eye on public health concerns and the always-changing car insurance market. Reach out to Mary to share any of your questions or concerns.
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