Despite hours-long lines at major air travel hubs around the country due to short-staffing at security checkpoints, Boston's airport has managed to run a steady course throughout the partial government shutdown.
Nearly 500 TSA employees have walked off the job nationally, and thousands more have called out sick due to a historic 45-day lapse in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. At Logan Airport, 29 TSA agents have resigned as of Monday, according to Mike Gazyagian, president of AFGE Local 2617, the New England branch of the TSA officers union.
Despite those walk-offs, however, wait times at Logan "have not been impacted," said Jennifer Mehigan, a spokesperson for Massport, the quasi-public agency that operates Boston's airport. While the federal government has sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to several airports in an attempt to ease the burden on TSA workers, Mehigan said she had "not heard anything about ICE being at Logan."
A GBH reporter who recently flew out of Boston during the morning rush faced no wait time whatsoever at security and saw no ICE presence. The scene stood in sharp contrast to the images of travel chaos coming out of other large airports during the funding lapse.
Boston's steadfast performance throughout the shutdown has inspired praise from travellers on social media.
"S/o to all the TSA people at Logan Airport," NFL reporter Albert Breer said in a widely shared post on X. "Dropped at the curb at 7:02 am. Checked a bag and was through security at 7:09 am."
"Logan is the best airport in the country, we know this. They run that sh**like the Navy," another traveler wrote.
When asked in an interview how Logan has managed to keep wait times to a minimum, Gazyagian — who serves as a TSA worker at the airport in addition to heading the local union office — jokingly responded: "You want me to reveal our secrets?!"
In reality, Gazyagian said Boston's stellar performance is due to a combination of "a dedicated workforce" and "great support" from the public, the union and Logan's leadership that helped struggling TSA weather financial difficulties and continue showing up to work despite not receiving paychecks.
"New England is a different place. We look at things differently," he said. "We wanted it to work, and everyone got together and supported us."
Gazyagian said TSA workers at Logan have received countless gifts, including Dunkin' gift cards, from individual travelers, businesses and Massport itself.
"We had offers of help from [Providence-based non-profit] United Way and the Greater Boston Food Bank," he said. "The credit unions have been really helpful, too, locally and regionally. I honestly can't go through the whole list, but it really has been an uplifting thing to see."
On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA officers immediately. Gazyagian believes that Logan will stop seeing resignations as a result of the move and that the airport will continue to see little-to-no-problems at TSA in the days ahead.
As of Monday, Gazyagian said, TSA workers in New England had received back-pay for two missed paycheck periods. But he added that there has been little communication from the federal government about future payments and it remains "unclear how this is going to work going forward."
"This helps, but we want the shutdown to end," he said. "People are relieved to be getting the money, but they're just waiting to see what's going to happen in the future."
Copyright 2026 GBH News Boston