Operations continue to run smoothly at Las Vegas airport amid federal shutdown, officials say

Although tourism leaders aren’t sounding any alarms yet about how the government shutdown is affecting federal workers at Harry Reid International Airport, they aren’t taking any chances, building a food pantry for the roughly 1,500 federal workers that support local airport operations.

Friday was a critical day: It was the first one that those workers will miss a paycheck. The shutdown on Wednesday entered its third week.

Airport officials have said in emails all week that operations continue to run smoothly at Reid.

Those officials commonly suggest that passengers get to the airport earlier than usual to head off unexpected problems that arise before their departures. They suggest contacting their airlines for specific information about potential flight delays.

While air traffic control, Customs agents and Transportation Security Administration workers are among those employees required to work their jobs during a government shutdown, they’re not being paid and questions have circulated about whether they’ll be allowed to collect back pay.

Airport critical to tourism

With nearly half of the millions of annual visitors to Las Vegas coming in by plane, Clark County officials don’t want the airport to become a bottleneck and organized the food pantry so that workers can get by with donated food and supplies until the shutdown stalemate is resolved.

“The airport continues to be one of the primary feeders and any interruption has a potential impact on visitation,” said Brandon Bussmann, a gaming industry analyst with Las Vegas-based B Global. “The longer this shutdown goes on, the more of a chance it has not just to impact Las Vegas visitation but travel throughout the rest of the country.”

Clark County Commissioners Tick Segerblom and Jim Gibson on Thursday showed off the airport food pantry, which has been open since Monday.

The pantry is set up in an airport conference room with food and beverage dry goods, canned food, nonperishables, paper products, bottles of water, baby items, personal hygiene products and even pet food. There also are gift cards available to Walmart.

Since Monday, hundreds of representatives from the TSA, the FAA tower and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection unit at Reid have taken advantage of the pantry, stocked with food and supplies from Three Square, resort companies, the Las Vegas Raiders, Walmart and other donors.

Public donations

Airport officials said after the initial handouts on Monday wiped out the supply, the entire pantry was restocked by the next day. They said the public also can make donations by first calling 702-261-7157 to arrange a drop-off at the airport.

As if on cue, a fresh arrival of goods came in as Segerblom and Gibson were ending their remarks Thursday. And prior to their arrival, dozens of TSA agents in uniform signed in and picked up goods by the bagful.

Airport officials prevented journalists from talking to or photographing workers as they filled their bags.

“While operations at Harry Reid International Airport have not yet been impacted, we recognize the increasing strain the shutdown is placing on essential employees such as TSA officers and air traffic controllers,” Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill said in an emailed statement. “This essential workforce keeps our airport operating safely and efficiently, despite facing tremendous uncertainty.”

As it did during a similar shutdown in 2018, the LVCVA is providing affected employees gas cards to help out.

“I’m sure it’s not lost on anyone who lives in this valley how critical the operations of this airport are to us,” Gibson said in his remarks. “We estimate about $35 billion in economic impact that this airport makes to us. It is today the most essential and critical piece of our infrastructure, particularly given the issues that are in front of us all,” he said.

58 million passengers

“The 58 million passengers that come here have got to have a way to get here, right? And we’ve already seen the effects of an economic shift. I don’t know what the experts are going to call it in the end, but it’s a shift.”

Asked how long the pantry would be offered, Gibson said “as long as there’s a need.”

Bussmann, a frequent user of Reid, said he has seen some minor slowdowns at the airport in recent weeks, but he’s adjusted his own schedule to compensate.

“TSA is doing a phenomenal job under unnecessary conditions,” Bussmann said. “This is not our first shutdown and, unfortunately, it won’t be the last.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.