Good morning. The U.S. has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war, officials told The Times. At the same time, the Pentagon has ordered about 2,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. There’s more news below. I’m going to start today, though, in line at the airport.
Flying is awfulIt is a terrible time to fly. Long lines are plaguing many U.S. 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. And travel season is ramping up as families head off for spring break. Seeking to end the congressional standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security, Senate Republicans yesterday considered a compromise that would reopen the agency but withhold money for immigration operations that Democrats refuse to fund. It was unclear whether Senate Democrats would go along. Their leader, Chuck Schumer, wanted more concessions. (Read about the latest negotiations here.) The linesFor travelers, a 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. The result at large airports like those in Atlanta and New York has been hourslong lines to get through security, even for travelers with specialty clearances like T.S.A. PreCheck or Clear, and stacks of missed flights. How bad are the waits? In yesterday’s newsletter, we asked readers to share their stories. Hundreds of you 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, pricesWait times aren’t the only irregularity for travelers. President Trump deployed immigration agents to airports this week to 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. In this environment, Sunday night’s fatal collision between a regional jet and a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport 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.
At LaGuardia, one runway remains closed while investigators piece together what led to the deadly collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck. They still don’t know exactly what went wrong. 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.
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Immigration agents have rounded up and arrested hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Left behind are their dogs, cats, bunnies and chickens. Many of these homeless pets are consigned to the streets. In Minnesota, an animal-services agency recorded a 38 percent increase in stray, seized and relinquished cats and dogs; a rescue group said it had received nearly twice as many surrendered pets early this year as it did during the same period last year. So animal welfare groups are scrambling to feed and foster them. A recent adoption listing in New Orleans described Heinz, a Shih Tzu-poodle mix, as sweet, happy and energetic. “But he also has a sad story,” the listing said — he “lost his family” during Trump’s immigration raids.
Trump’s next move to pressure Iran should be an oil blockade, Clayton Seigle writes. Last week, a publisher canceled a novel after allegations that the writer had used artificial intelligence to write it. Andrea Bartz asks whether the book industry is ready for our A.I. future. Here are columns by Jamelle Bouie on what happens when a narcissist goes to war and by Bret Stephens on why the war is going better than you think. Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more.
Dance lesson: Tango is Argentina’s national dance, known for its passion and precision. In a hospital in Buenos Aires, it is also therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Haunts: Thousands of African migrants hoping to reach Europe have flocked to a remote island in Gambia that locals say is protected by a curse. Your pick: The most-clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about why women suffer more injuries in car crashes than men. Bangin’ hair: At recent fashion weeks, bobs, braids and buzz cuts galore.
91 million— That is the estimated number of trees that grey-headed flying foxes are responsible for planting along Australia’s eastern coast by dropping “seed rain” when they defecate midflight. The trees are a boon to Australia’s timber industry. |
