Sequestration: Expect longer lines at airports

Passengers at Southwest Florida International Airport likely will see longer security lines if widespread national furloughs touch the region, though the exact impact isn’t known locally.

Southwest Florida International Airport officials referred all sequestration questions to the Department of Homeland Security, which didn’t respond to inquiries about how local travel would be effected.

Nationally, the White House reports the vast majority of nearly 47,000 Federal Aviation Administration employees would be furloughed one or two days per pay period — though some Republican lawmakers say FAA decision-makers are exaggerating the sequestration impacts.

Customs lines at airports also are likely to lengthen due to fewer employees, but those effects are likely to be seen more at major metropolitan airports, according to the White House.

Minnesota resident Richard Doblar, who flies to his second home in Estero several times per year, said he usually breezes through security at Southwest Florida International in 15 to 30 minutes and could tolerate a short line extension.

“I would understand an extra wait,” Doblar said Wednesday afternoon, on his way out of the Fort Myers airport. “But if you need two more hours to get through, that would be tougher.”