04:52 AM EDT, 03/16/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The chief executives of eight US airlines issued an open letter to the US Congress Sunday urging them to restore funding for airport security workers left without pay because of a dispute over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security.

The chief executives of American Airlines ( AAL ) , United Airlines (UAL), Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) , Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) ,, JetBlue Airways ( JBLU ) , and Alaska Air ( ALK ) , asked Congress to quickly to end a 29-day partial government shutdown that has caused 50,000 airport security officers to work without pay.

"Too many travelers are having to wait in extraordinarily long -- and painfully slow -- lines at checkpoints," the executives said. TSA officers just received $0 paychecks. "That is simply unacceptable. It's difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid."

They urged lawmakers to immediately come together and hammer out a deal in such a way that this problem never happens again."

The signatories included FedEx ( FDX ) , UPS (UPS), and Atlas Air.