Bozeman Yellowstone Airport avoiding TSA shutdown delays — for now

Security lines at the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport surged Wednesday afternoon, as travelers navigated the switchbacks of retractable stanchions like tired backpackers, still hours from their destinations.

“As it stands right now, the traffic we’re seeing is tied to a seasonal demand,” Chris Pomeroy, BZN’s chief operating officer, said. “We’re still (getting) winter season travel, with spring break being stacked on top of that.”

This February saw a 9% increase in passengers from the same month last year, consistent with general growth trends at BZN. In 2025, 2,809,419 passengers passed through BZN, marking the airport’s busiest year and a 6.3% increase over 2024.

A partial government shutdown, which started Feb. 14, has significantly impacted Department of Homeland Security funding, requiring employees to work without pay.

This past Friday, TSA agents missed their first full paycheck due to the funding lapse. This marks the third time agents have had to work for unassured pay in six months.

“You get a sense the (TSA) officers are not psyched,” a Bozeman resident flying in from Los Angeles said.

“It’s tinderbox type stuff for sure.”

Nationally, 10.19% of TSA staff across all airports called out March 15, the highest rate of the shutdown. In airports across the country, namely JFK in New York, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, wait times at TSA checkpoints have spiked.

“For now, we’ve been able to avoid some of the challenges other airports are facing,” Pomeroy said. “While we’ve avoided TSA impacts due to the shutdown thus far, TSA’s staffing projections indicate shutdown-related callouts may present some impacts starting in the next few days.”

While he said TSA is working to keep delays to a minimum, Pomeroy encouraged passengers to arrive at least two hours before their flights and check for flight information with their airline.

Travelers flying into Bozeman from across the country have praised the work of TSA agents.

“(TSA agents) are doing what they can, which I think is pretty noble considering (everything),” Marissa Catlett, a passenger from Chicago, said. “I wanted to tell them, ‘Thank you for being here’, or bring them chocolates.”

Bozeman TSA employees said were unable to provide The Chronicle with a comment.

“If you’re traveling through Bozeman Airport, when you see a TSA representative, thank them for their hard work and efforts,” Pomeroy said. “For a lot of employees, it’s a tough time to be caught in the middle of all of this.”