LOS ANGELES — A perfect storm of political deadlock and severe weather has paralyzed air travel across the United States this Friday, leaving millions of passengers stranded and facing chaotic scenes at major airports. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suspended the Global Entry program nationwide as the partial government shutdown enters its thirteenth day, forcing pre-approved travelers into already overwhelming standard customs lines.

The bureaucratic freeze is compounded by a massive flight cancellations Northeast storm crisis, which has dumped over two feet of snow on the region and severed key aviation arteries. From California airport delays triggered by displaced crews to a total standstill at JFK and Logan International, the U.S. travel network is buckling under the strain of what industry experts are calling the worst operational collapse of 2026.

Global Entry Suspension 2026: "Political Football" with Travelers

The most immediate shock for international arrivals came earlier this week when the DHS announced the indefinite suspension of Global Entry processing. The "Trusted Traveler Program halted" status remains in effect today, February 27, despite fierce backlash from the travel industry.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem defended the decision as a necessary "emergency measure to preserve limited funds" while the agency operates without a congressional appropriation. However, the move has turned airport arrival halls into bottlenecks. At Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami International, wait times for customs clearance have ballooned from the usual five minutes to over two hours.

"It feels like Washington is using travelers as a pawn," said Sarah Perkins, a business traveler stuck in a snaking line at LAX after arriving from Tokyo. "We paid for this service specifically to avoid this mess, and now the kiosks are dark."

Geoff Freeman, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, blasted the move, calling it "political football" and noting that Global Entry is largely funded by user fees, not appropriated tax dollars. While TSA PreCheck remains technically operational after a brief scare on Monday, airport security lines Feb 2026 are moving at a glacial pace due to TSA staffing shortages and "blue flu" sick-outs among unpaid officers.

Historic Blizzard Cripples Northeast Hubs

While the government shutdown travel delays wreck havoc on processing, Mother Nature has delivered a knockout blow to flight schedules. A historic nor'easter—described by meteorologists as a "bomb cyclone"—buried parts of New York and New England under nearly 30 inches of snow between Monday and Wednesday.

Although the snow has stopped, the operational hangover is severe. Flight cancellations Northeast storm statistics are staggering: over 11,000 flights were scrubbed this week, and airlines are struggling to reposition aircraft and crews. Hubs like Newark Liberty (EWR), LaGuardia (LGA), and Boston Logan (BOS) are operating at reduced capacity as ground crews work to clear unprecedented snow piles from tarmac aprons.

Ripple Effects Hit California

The chaos is not confined to the East Coast. California airport delays are mounting as the ripple effect reaches the Pacific. At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), departure boards are a sea of red text. The issue isn't local weather, but a displaced network; planes that should be flying out of LAX are currently buried under snow in Queens or stranded in Chicago.

"We have crews timed out and aircraft out of position," a Delta Air Lines gate agent at LAX told reporters. "Even if the sun is shining here, we can't fly to New York if there's no gate available there."

DHS Travel Alerts Today: What You Need to Know

For those brave enough to fly this weekend, the outlook requires patience and preparation. DHS travel alerts today warn of "significant processing delays" at all international ports of entry. Here is the current situation on the ground:

  • Global Entry: Completely suspended. All members must use standard lanes.
  • TSA PreCheck: Open but understaffed. Expect wait times 2-3x longer than normal.
  • Flight Status: Check your airline's app before leaving for the airport. Do not rely on scheduled times.
  • Rebooking: With load factors already high, rebooking stranded passengers could take days.

As the shutdown standoff in Washington shows no sign of resolving before the weekend, and with another potential weather system eyeing the Northeast for Sunday, the US travel crisis is likely to persist into March. Travelers are advised to arrive at least three hours early for domestic flights and four hours for international departures—if their flights are operating at all.