Jamie Sims left, and Carlos Serna, right, try to get some rest as they wait for their cancelled flight to El Paso, texas to be rescheduled at Love Field Airport in Dallas, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)2026-03-17T04:11:26Z ATLANTA (AP) Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed Tuesday, one day after powerful storms swept across the eastern half of the country and upended air travel in a cross-section of cities. Travelers have been facing additional jams at airport security checkpoints as a partial government shutdown strains screener staffing. The disruptions come at an already challenging time for air travel, in part because the shutdown that began Feb. 14 has pressured staffing at some security checkpoints. At the same time, airports are crowded with spring break travelers and fans heading to March Madness games, the annual NCAA mens and womens college basketball tournaments.More than 550 flights scheduled to fly into, out of or within the U.S. have been called off as of early Tuesday, and over 460 were delayed, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Flight delays and cancellations piled up Monday at some of the nations largest airports, including those in New York, Chicago and Atlanta. The storm system that dumped heavy snow across the Midwest raced toward the East Coast with the potential for high winds and tornadoes, the National Weather Service warned Monday. Kelly Price, who was trying to get home to Colorado after a family vacation in Orlando, Florida, said her Sunday night flight wasnt canceled until early Monday.By that time the only place for us to sleep was the airport floor. So were all tired and frustrated, she said, adding that the soonest she and her family could book another flight doesnt leave until Tuesday afternoon. Impact to major airport hubs The nationwide cancellations on Monday included about 600 in and out of Chicago OHare International, more than 470 at Atlantas Hartsfield-Jackson International and over 450 at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, according to FlightAware.Citing severe weather, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered ground stops at Hartsfield-Jackson and Charlotte Douglas International Airport and ground delays at JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport.Danielle Cash found herself stranded in St. Louis on Sunday while trying to get home to Tampa, Florida, after a weekend girls trip to Las Vegas. Now shes spending several hundred dollars more than planned on a hotel room in a snowy city she wasnt dressed for. It was 80 degrees in Tampa when I left and then going to Vegas, she said. And it was 90 degrees in the desert.Cash said shes now booked on a flight that will take her to Tennessee before finally returning to Tampa by Tuesday afternoon.TSA staffing strains some checkpointsThe storms unfolded just as airport security screeners missed their first full paycheck over the weekend. The current partial government shutdown affects only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration.Democrats in Congress have said Homeland Security wont get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.It is the third shutdown in less than a year to leave TSA workers temporarily without pay. Once the government reopens, employees will have to wait for back pay.Some airports have reported longer security lines because of staffing shortages as more TSA workers take on second jobs, cant afford gas to get to work or leave the profession altogether. Homeland Security has said more than 300 TSA agents have quit since the start of the shutdown. Security wait times could worsenTSA union leaders in Atlanta held a news conference Monday outside Hartsfield-Jackson, warning that air travelers could face increasingly long wait times as the shutdown continues. Even so, union leaders said, many officers are still reporting to work despite mounting financial strain.Many TSA workers are coping with eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts, said Aaron Barker, a local leader with the American Federation of Government Employees. Supporters behind him held signs reading, We want a paycheck, not a rain check.Travelers flying out of New Orleans on Sunday and Monday were advised to arrive at least three hours early due to impacts from the federal governments partial shutdown, Louis Armstrong International Airport said on X. And the airport in Austin, Texas, shared a video on X taken at 5:30 a.m. local time showing the security line spilling out onto the sidewalk outside. Back in Atlanta, Mel Stewart and his wife arrived four hours earlier than usual for their flight out of Hartsfield-Jackson to make up for longer TSA lines.I think its being politicized way too much way too much, Stewart said Monday of the shutdown. And these people are working. They work hard, and for TSA people not to get paid, thats silly.___Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press reporters Margery A. Beck in Omaha, Nebraska and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report. RIO YAMAT Yamat is a national business reporter for The Associated Press. Based in Las Vegas, she covers airlines, travel and tourism. twitter mailto