Opinion: Delta just pulled VIP airport perks for Congress amid the TSA mess — it’s about time

In case you somehow missed it, TSA agents are showing up to work without pay, staffing shortages are causing chaos at security checkpoints, ICE agents are showing up and standing around (while they are collecting pay), and travelers are bracing for hours-long lines just to make (or ultimately miss) their flights. It’s a total breakdown of the system.

Still, until now, members of Congress could breeze through the airport with special treatment. That’s why I’m celebrating Delta Air Lines’ latest move, and I’m sure it will win the airline a lot of other fans with its statement-making action, too.

Delta has temporarily suspended the “specialty services” it typically provides to members of Congress during the ongoing government shutdown. Those perks can include airport escorts and so-called Red Coat assistance — the kind of behind-the-scenes help that can make an airport experience dramatically smoother.

Now, lawmakers flying Delta will be dealing with the same mess as everyone else. Good!

Because at a moment when the very people responsible for keeping airports secure are working without pay — and in many cases, calling out sick in higher numbers because of it — the idea that elected officials could still receive VIP treatment feels wildly out of step with reality. And it’s also just plain infuriating. Why would they let the rest of us suffer in the very mess they made, while they get to float above it all? Absolutely not OK.

Delta, for its part, framed the decision as a matter of resources. In a statement to CBS News, the airline said the ongoing shutdown has strained its ability to deliver those extra services, adding: “Next to safety, Delta’s No. 1 priority is taking care of our people and customers, which has become increasingly difficult in the current environment.”

That’s a diplomatic way of saying what a lot of travelers are already thinking: Get it together, Congress.

Travelers have reported hours-long waits in security lines, along with limited access to basics like water and air conditioning while they wait. It’s not just an inconvenience; it raises real questions about how well the system can handle additional stress or emergencies.

And that’s the context in which Congress has, until now, continued to benefit from a smoother path through the airport.

To be clear, some lawmakers may still get perks — but only if they’ve earned them the same way any frequent flyer has, through airline loyalty programs like SkyMiles… not because of their job title. I love this for them.

This isn’t about punishing members of Congress (although I’d be fine with that, frankly). It’s about aligning their experience, even in a small way, with the reality that millions of travelers — and thousands of unpaid TSA workers — are facing right now.

For weeks, frustration has been building among travelers navigating the fallout of the shutdown. As I previously reported, the U.S. Travel Association has already blasted Congress for preparing to head out on recess while TSA agents face missing paychecks and travelers endure mounting delays.

That disconnect — between the people making decisions and the people living with the consequences — is exactly what’s fueling so much anger right now.

Delta’s move doesn’t fix the underlying problem. It doesn’t pay TSA agents or magically shorten security lines. But it does something, at least symbolically, and that feels like a symbolic win for the rest of us.

Because if lawmakers are going to fly during a shutdown that’s disrupting the entire travel system, they should experience at least a fraction of what everyone else is dealing with.

Long lines, frustration, anxiety, chaos. In other words: the system they helped create. And if that makes those lines feel a little more urgent to fix, all the better.