OKC airport not seeing many delays as shutdown continues

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Another massive side effect of the government shutdown is chaos and long lines at US airports.

Passengers at Houston's main airport faced security line waits of more than three hours.

Fortunately, for us, we are not experiencing that here in Oklahoma City, but officials with Will Rogers International Airport say issues at larger airports do carry over here at home.

"If you are flying to a major hub, you might run into some issues at the larger airports," Stacey Hamm with Will Rogers International Airport said.

It has now been 30-plus days since the government shutdown began, and more problems are piling up because of it.

Several major airports across the US are now seeing lengthy delays and even canceled flights as more federal workers, who are still not getting paid, call in sick.

Here at home, Hamm says everything has been running just fine for the most part.

"We're running on time with all of our flights," Hamm said. "We might have a few minor delays here and there, but nothing that has held up or canceled any flights during this time period."

She says that is largely thanks to the workers continuing to show up.

"TSA is staffed, even though their employees aren't collecting a paycheck right now, they are coming to work," Hamm said. "We're getting people through the security checkpoint efficiently. So, everybody is making it out of OKC on time."

However, chaos ensues around the country.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on "X" today, saying the department may need to close some airspace by this time next week because "we just cannot manage it."

We asked Hamm if she had heard any rumblings of that being a possibility and what that could look like.

"We have not no, it's the first time hearing of this," Hamm said.

Nevertheless, she says they will continue to operate as they have been.

"Everything is running smoothly," Hamm said.

Hamm also says passengers still need to stay on top of your flight status.

You can do so by downloading their mobile app, or going to their website.