Easter and Passover Travel. FIFA Games.

The FIFA World Cup games don't start until mid June: plenty of time yet for the situation to be resolved. Of larger FIFA concern are the very expensive visa bonds required of players and their families and fans from impacted nations. I've not read that an agreement for those to be waived for those affected has been reached. (Intended to be a travel-related comment)

Pretty sure you'll be fine for Paris in 6 weeks.

BostonPhil. No reason to panic. I’ve flown quite a bit in the last few weeks and all has gone well. Take a deep breath and relax.

Although World Cup matches aren’t imminent, there are concerns that replacing the more than 400+ TSA agents who have quit their jobs, and training new hires, will impact air travel. There are also potential attendees who may be hesitant to encounter ICE agents in airports because of their history of violence towards citizens.

It’s always a “hostage” type situation. Last time is was health insurance subsidies and food assistance. This time it’s air travel, in both a matter of convenience and safety. And a war of choice rages for ???. In that respect, it’s becoming evident that it’s possible to make a bad thing even worse. Should have known that based on history.

Less than 2% of the US population claims Judaism as their religion. The number of practicing Jews is probably lower. This year, because of all the targeting going on, they may be a bit more reluctant to travel. They won’t be contributing much to the problems at the airport.

The longest government shutdown in history was 43 days, but they generally only last a week or two. The current one is now 39 days. The other big difference is that they are typically total shutdowns, this one is only Homeland Security. Since it’s unique, who knows how long it will last, but my uneducated guess is it will be over in a week or ten days.

As far as foreign visitors not liking the temporary security measures in the airports. So far passengers haven’t had any reported problems. The CNN report from Atlanta was positive and a local Atlanta news station also said the situation in Atlanta had improved in the last 24 hours and reported no problems between passengers and security. That’s the only airport I have found firsthand accounts from. But if the foreign visitors want to stay away, those World Cup tickets will be bought by someone else.

As for the TSA that quit. There are over 47,000 TSA agents and 400 quit; so, something less than 1%. The government might have to continue supplementing TSA staff for a while, don’t know.

I wouldn’t sweat a trip in April or later.

Myself, my first trip to Paris is early May. If the situation continues, I am considering postponing it to Fall.

Carol NR is correct in that there's no need to worry or postpone your trip. Besides, don't you normally get to the airport hours and hours early?

Once you arrive in Paris, you shouldn't have any problems other than the normal headache of maneuvering CDG. 😊

None of those events have any bearing on May travel. Take a break from the doom and gloom news and make a decision based on the facts and actual situation much closer to your travel dates.

I have spoken to many people who have recently traveled domestically in the US. There is more hype in the media than actual chaos in airports. More and more media hysteria to sell clicks. Speak with recent fliers and make a judgement for yourselves before cancelling travel plans.

As for the TSA that quit. There are over 47,000 TSA agents and 400 quit; so, something less than 1%. The government might have to continue supplementing TSA staff for a while, don’t know.

The shortage is due to TSA agents calling in sick, not necessarily quitting. And this is resulting in a shortage, in some places as is evident by the extremely long security line wait times.

It takes a substantial amount of time to be trained as a TSA agent. ICE agents aren't going to show up and start doing that work. They can help with crowd control, but the crowds will remain.

I agree with CL.

Stop.

Right.

Now.

Quit watching whatever you are currently watching that has you all upset. Easter and Passover will have been over for a month when you travel in May.

Go back to working out a Plan A and Plan B for your days in Paris. One for when you've slept. One for when you've not.