A long line of vehicles are bumper-to-bumper heading into MIA on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.
Travelers at South Florida’s two largest airports faced disruptions on Monday as Spring Break continued, storms hit the East Coast, and TSA workers once again confronted working without pay.
Miami International Airport had 270 delays and 267 cancellations on Monday by about 3:30 p.m., according to data analytics firm FlightAware.
FlightAware doesn’t specify reasons for the disruptions and there were likely multiple factors. Spring Break is taking place and Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale are among the most popular destinations even as Miami Beach has tried to keep revelers away in recent years.
A partial government shutdown has led to TSA workers having to yet again work without pay. That started Friday.
Airlines for Americans, a lobbying group of airline executives, wrote an open letter to Congress on March 15, saying, “TSA officers just received $0 paychecks.”
The group called it “simply unacceptable.”
“Yet, once again air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown,” they wrote in the letter.
Some TSA agents have not shown up to work, according to reports, although there’s no precise figure about MIA. And during last year’s shutdown, that airport fared well in retaining its workers.
On Monday, the longest wait time at a TSA checkpoint was 12 minutes, according to Greg Chin, communication director for Miami-Date Aviation Department. He said that was average. Travelers can check TSA wait times online here.
Another factor, perhaps the biggest, affecting delays and cancellations was the weather up north. Of all the disruptions at MIA, 223 cancellations —128 arrivals and 95 departures— were due to thunderstorms across the East Coast as of 1:30 p.m., Chin told the Herald.
Meanwhile, in Broward, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was hard hit.
It experienced 370 delays on Monday, and 198 cancellations, according to FlightAware.
CBS News Miami reports showed long lines heading out terminal doors at FLL.
Arlene Satchell, an FLL spokesperson, told the Herald on Monday that, “these flight cancellations and delays are primarily driven by winter storm/severe weather impacts across various U.S. regions.”
FLL did also acknowledge long lines at some TSA checkpoints over the past weekend but those “were due to peak spring travel and a busy cruise season with high passenger volumes converging at the airport at similar times,” Satchell said. They weren’t directly tied to any staffing issues related to the partial government shutdown, she said.
Vinod Sreeharsha
Miami Herald
Vinod Sreeharsha covers tourism trends in South Florida for the Miami Herald.
