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TSA agents fear retaliation, unfair consequences at Indy airport as shutdown drags on

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Transportation Security Administration (TSA) absences nationwide hit a record high as the partial government shutdown entered its second month but agency officials denied any evidence of “blue flu” at Indianapolis International Airport (IND). 

The national rate of unscheduled TSA absences on Jan. 20, 2019 was 10 percent, the agency said in a statement, compared to 3.1 percent on Jan. 21, 2018. Both recorded travel days were Sundays.

“Many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations,” TSA officials said in the statement, released Monday. 

However, there were “no reports of abnormally high call offs” in Indianapolis, agency spokesman James Gregory said Monday in an email to News 8. 

He blamed “some slightly longer waits” on the weather. 

Passengers flying out of IND Monday morning experienced wait times of 18 minutes at Checkpoint A and 26 minutes at Checkpoint B, according to TSA officials. 

Neither time exceeded the TSA standard of 30 minutes for regular security screening but frequent flyers said it was “noticeably longer” than what they had become accustomed to at the award-winning airport. 

IND’s nationally renowned reputation for efficient service and customer satisfaction comes at a price, according to current and former TSA agents in Indianapolis.

Consequences for calling — and speaking — out are “harsher” at IND than what their colleagues face at other airports, they claimed. 

One agent, who worked at other airports before IND, said management is “much tougher” on workers in Indianapolis and more likely to engage in retaliatory or hostile behavior. He suggested it was because they “feel pressured” by the airport’s competitive standards. 

“We receive AWOL status even if we’re truly sick,” another agent said. 

He added he plans to quit his job at IND as soon as he finds alternative employment. He requested not to be identified in the meantime.

At least six Indianapolis TSA agents who spoke with News 8 said they feared termination and requested anonymity; none were comfortable being interviewed on camera. 

“We’d be fired if we did that,” one IND worker said when he saw a video clip of a TSA agent in Little Rock, Ark. being interviewed by a CNN correspondent. 

An airport representative said she would defer to TSA officials when contacted by News 8 for comment. 

A TSA spokesman maintained nothing unusual had been reported in Indianapolis during the shutdown.