A plea from the airlines. From Marketplace, I'm Nancy Marshall Genser in for David Bruncaccio.

The CEOs of major U.S. airlines are urging Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security

and end the partial government shutdown, which has dragged on for a month now as Democrats demand reforms to immigration enforcement practices.

In an open letter, the CEOs say wait times are growing at airports and air travel has

once again become a political football. Marketplace's Nova Safo is here with more. Hello, Nova.

Good morning, Nancy. So why are airline CEOs sounding the alarm now?

Well, it has been a month, which means that TSA agents are now missing their first full month of paychecks.

Several days ago, the Department of Homeland Security said more than 300 TSA employees had already quit, so that number could now be even higher.

There are reports of long security lines at airports around the country.

Some airports have asked passengers to arrive three hours or more early. And the CEOs say that their

airlines are trying to hold flights for passengers, we book people as well. And all of this is happening,

they point out during what is usually the height of the spring break travel season.

We're in the middle of it now, Nancy. So it's a particularly difficult time to have all of this

disruption. Oh, absolutely. So aside from wanting DHS funding restored, the airline CEOs are also

calling for some permanent changes. What are those?

Yeah, there are three bills they're asking Congress to pass, which would ensure that air traffic controllers and TSA employees get paid in the event of future government shutdowns.

And the airlines are seeking this change because shutdowns are very expensive for them.

They have to rebook people. They have to deal with canceled and delayed flights.

And in the fall, when we had the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, the big airlines

lost hundreds of millions of dollars each, each in profits. And we know this because we saw

the numbers play out in their earnings reports and the CEOs are trying to end that cycle, Nancy.

Well, let's wish them well. Thank you very much, Nova.

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