Airport Chaos

Airports are often the first impression visitors get of a country. And the impression American airports are giving right now is … not great.

There are long lines. There are armed immigration agents roaming the terminals. And hanging over it all is a crash at LaGuardia Airport that killed two pilots on Sunday.

Airports in the world’s richest country have become a symbol of government dysfunction. Today my colleague Sam Sifton, host of The Morning, writes about the disconcerting travel chaos in the U.S. — just in time for spring break.

America’s air travel chaos

by Sam Sifton

It is a terrible time to fly in — or to — the United States.

Long lines are plaguing many American airports because of a shortage of Transportation Security Administration screeners. They have been working without pay for more than a month during a partial government shutdown, prompted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and other cities. And travel season is ramping up as families head off for spring break.

It’s all enough to make any would-be flier consider taking a road trip instead. And that was before a deadly runway collision at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Sunday night.

The lines

For travelers, a funding deal can’t come soon enough. More than 400 T.S.A. officers have quit since the shutdown, according to Homeland Security. Others have taken on second jobs and called out of work in order to perform them. It can now take hours to get through security at large airports in Atlanta and New York, resulting in many missed flights.

How bad are the waits? We asked readers of The Morning to share their stories. Hundreds obliged. Here are a couple of anecdotes:

We missed our connecting flight in Atlanta because of long lines on Saturday. We saw visibly tired T.S.A. agents, some saying that they wouldn’t come to work the next day. When travelers at risk of missing their flight started asking those in front of them for permission to move ahead, someone called T.S.A. officers, who escorted the fliers to the back of the line. One of them wept. We watched passengers arguing about the line-cutters and saw officers intervene to stop a fight. We slept in the airport to make our flight the next morning. | Natalia Rojas Cerf | Austin, Texas

We returned from Puerto Rico Sunday, and the experience was brutal. Two of three terminals were closed, and various lines (check-in, baggage drop, security) snaked confusingly through the building and into the street. Travelers stood for more than four hours in lines under tents in the rain. Many people missed their flights. Staff were often just as confused as travelers about where to go and what lines were for. | Dawnrae Oliveira | Hinsdale, Massachusetts

Taken together, though, the responses paint a nuanced picture. Several readers shared stories of normalcy, even bonhomie:

I flew out of Denver at the start of spring break and was surprised by the ease of security. There were long lines that moved very quickly, T.S.A. agents were friendly and kind, even joking, and travelers were generally positive and respectful. The airline clubs were packed, presumably with travelers arriving early just in case. | Cait Murphy | Denver, Colorado

Oil, immigration, prices

Wait times aren’t the only irregularity for travelers. President Trump deployed immigration agents to airports this week, claiming they would help manage the lines. Democratic lawmakers and the union representing T.S.A. officers called the deployment disruptive — ICE agents freak some Americans out. (Others shake their hands.) Over the weekend, T.S.A. tipped off ICE about the travel plans of a woman and her 9-year-old daughter, leading to their deportation.

And then there are the ramifications of a foreign war. Ticket prices are climbing as the Iran conflict brings shortages of jet fuel across Asia. Airlines have canceled tens of thousands of flights in the Middle East as governments have closed airports and restricted flight paths across the region. Demand for tickets is ebbing. “We’re seeing a perfect storm of travel disruption right now,” one travel expert told The Times.

As for the collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck that killed two pilots at LaGuardia on Sunday, we still don’t know exactly what went wrong.

We do know that audio from the air traffic control tower points to a communication breakdown: A controller tells the fire truck, “Stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck 1, stop, stop, stop.” Six seconds later, the controller again says, “Stop, Truck 1, stop!” Investigators do not know if the driver heard those commands.

And the two controllers on duty at the time of the crash were doing the jobs of four people, officials said. Such a practice is common during night shifts, but federal regulators have raised safety concerns about it before.

In an already tense environment, however, the fatal collision felt like the final variable in a grim equation: Those lines, those ICE agents, this war, these poor dead pilots and wounded passengers who could have been you? The result is stress.

MORE TOP NEWS

Iran rejected Trump’s offer

Iran publicly dismissed Trump’s proposal for a cease-fire. But privately, some Iranian officials said that Iran was considering meeting with U.S. negotiators in Islamabad, Pakistan, over the next week.

For Trump, touting negotiations helps placate tensions at home. For Iran, denying discussion serves its agenda, my colleague Jim Tankersley writes. Here’s what to know about the U.S.-Iran negotiations.

Other developments:

Israel is striking as many key Iranian targets as it can, concerned the war could soon be brought to a halt.
The Pentagon has ordered about 2,000 paratroopers to the Middle East.

In One Image: Our photographer Avishag Shaar-Yashuv captured the scene in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, where a fragment of an Iranian missile landed in a schoolyard.
This Times graphic shows how blocking oil and gas from leaving the Strait of Hormuz creates ripples around the world.
Follow our live updates.

Top of The World

The most clicked link in your newsletter yesterday was about a push by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia to keep the war in Iran going.

Meta and YouTube lost a landmark addiction case

A California jury yesterday found that Meta and YouTube harmed a young user with addictive design features that led to her mental health distress. They were ordered to pay $3 million in compensatory damages, a relatively small sum for companies worth trillions of dollars, but the landmark decision is expected to result in more lawsuits.

The plaintiff, a now 20-year-old woman, accused the social media companies of creating products that are as addictive as cigarettes or casinos. Citing features like infinite scroll and algorithmic recommendations, she sued Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, and Google’s YouTube, for causing anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia and thoughts of self-harm.

OTHER NEWS

Ukrainian forces have clawed back territory in the first two months of the year. But Russian troops are now on the offensive.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, is working to build a coalition government after her lackluster result in a recent election, which turned on local issues.
The London police arrested two men accused of setting fire to ambulances run by a Jewish volunteer service.
Trump leveraged funding and favors to pressure Cameroon into accepting deported migrants in a secret deal.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

OpenAI said it will shut down Sora, its A.I. video generator, just three months after signing a billion-dollar deal with Disney.
Matt Brittin, the former president of Google in Europe, will be the new leader of the BBC.
Stephen Colbert, the American late-night host, is writing a new “Lord of the Rings” film with the director Peter Jackson.
Daphne Selfe, the world’s oldest professional model, died at 97.

SPORTS

Baseball: We ranked the lineups for all 30 M.L.B. teams ahead of Opening Day. Here’s how they stack up.

World Cup: As playoffs begin today, these are the 22 teams still fighting to qualify for this summer’s tournament.

QUIZ OF THE DAY

What do you know about Canterbury?

— After 1,400 years, the first female archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, was installed yesterday in an elaborate ceremony. Test your knowledge of the city, its cathedral and a few historic moments.

MORNING READ

African migrants typically try to make their way to Europe by sea from Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal. But as the immigration authorities crack down on those hubs, migrants and smugglers have sought other departure points.

Now, many are turning to the Gambian island of Jinack. The fishing island has a special appeal: Villagers say it is protected by a curse, haunted by ancestors who are said to bring misfortune on outsiders who interfere. Read more about the island at the center of a new migration route.

AROUND THE WORLD

Live from the U.K.: It’s Saturday night!

Can America’s most famous humor franchise translate across the pond? That is the question hovering over the new “Saturday Night Live U.K.,” which premiered this weekend.

The original “S.N.L.” recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. In Britain, the show is trying to revive sketch comedy in a country where the genre hasn’t seen a breakout success in roughly a generation.

Americans and Brits found plenty to enjoy in the debut episode, hosted by Tina Fey. The British critic Gabriel Tate called the cast members “immensely likable.” My American colleague Jason Zinoman said the spinoff was “like stepping into a well-run Starbucks in a foreign country: comforting and recognizable.” Read more about the show as seen from both sides of the Atlantic.

Bonus: The musical guests, Wet Leg, performed their anti-jerk anthem “Mangetout” (Try sounding it out slowly). Watch it here.

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RECIPE

Bullinada is a creamy Catalonian seafood stew infused with saffron and garlicky mayonnaise, brimming with potatoes. Add the fish just a few minutes before serving so you can be sure it won’t overcook.