It was time to leave New York City. Our flight was scheduled for 11:40 a.m., and we had arranged an Uber to pick us up at the hotel at 8:50 a.m.
The day before, there had been a crash at LaGuardia that shut down the airport for half the day, stopping air traffic in and out. Tragically, both pilots were killed. On top of that, the Department of Homeland Security was a mess because the federal government had not funded it, so TSA workers were not being paid. Lines had been longer than usual, and, on top of that, Trump sent ICE agents to the airports to “help” without any training. All of this had us braced for a chaotic trip home.
Around 8:30 a.m., we checked out and waited in the lobby for our Uber. I decided to look up TSA wait times at LaGuardia, and Google said three hours. I was sure we wouldn’t make our flight. We then got a notice that our departure had been delayed by 30 minutes, to 12:05 p.m., but even so, I couldn’t imagine getting through security if the line was really that long.
Our Uber driver arrived early, so we left the hotel at 8:40 a.m. He handled Manhattan’s intense traffic with impressive precision. We passed through Queens and a massive cemetery, and pulled up to LaGuardia at 9:20 a.m.
Inside the terminal, a baggage agent quickly helped us check-in Jim’s bag, we dropped it off at the counter and then headed straight for security. To our surprise, there was virtually no line. We went to TSA PreCheck and were through in minutes.
The only snag was that they pulled my bag aside. Their scanners flagged my corkscrew—it apparently had a blade—so I had to leave it. After that, we were done. It was 10:00 a.m., and we suddenly had two hours to spare before our flight. We grabbed coffee and an almond croissant, which turned out to be excellent.
The flight ultimately arrived the expected 30 minutes late—but that delay turned out to be from flights leaving Minneapolis behind schedule. My takeaway is that the TSA issues might be getting a bit exaggerated. Either that, or Jim and I are just incredibly lucky.