Woman arrives at Atlanta airport 5 hours early for LaGuardia flight. 12 hours later, she’s back where she started: ‘You could’ve drove home…to NYC’
Amid the partial government shutdown and reports of more than 61,000 TSA workers going unpaid for over a month, travelers across the U.S. have been documenting overwhelming airport lines and delays.
One of them decided to show exactly what that looks like in real time.
TikTok creator Daijné Jones (@naenae_jonez3) documented her attempt to fly from Atlanta to New York’s LaGuardia Airport as the situation unfolded. Her video has garnered over 2.5 million views.
What Happened During Her Trip To LaGuardia?
Jones says she arrived at the airport hours early after seeing videos of long TSA lines online.
“It is currently 3:11 PM. I have a flight out of the Atlanta airport tonight at 8:57 PM,” she says. “But I’ve been seeing videos of the TSA wait lines, so I’m gonna go to the airport right now because I’m terrified.”
When she got there, the lines were already stretching far beyond their usual areas.
“Here is what we are dealing with,” she says, filming the crowd. “It took me four minutes to get to the end of the line.”
At first, things seemed manageable. “It’s moving at a nice pace,” she says. “I still think it’ll take a couple of hours.”
As time went on, however, the progress slowed significantly, with long stretches where the line barely moved at all. At one point, travelers were stuck in place for nearly 20 minutes.
“We have been in standstill traffic,” she says.
The situation got more confusing when, according to Jones, a checkpoint was suddenly closed without warning.
“They closed the checkpoint but didn’t tell anybody,” she says. “A bunch of people left this line… and all those people had to go to the back,” she says.
Eventually, travelers were redirected to a different checkpoint, only to find another packed line waiting for them.
“We’re in the new TSA line,” she says, showing another crowded area.
After several hours, Jones finally made it through security and rushed toward her gate.
“I just got through security,” she says at 8:17, noting she needs to hurry to catch her flight.
What Happened After She Reached the Boarding Area?
She managed to make it just in time, only to find out her flight had been delayed.
Then the video cuts to the most recent update. “Update: it is now 2:18 am, and I am back in Atlanta,” she says. “We were descending on our flight into LaGuardia, and they shut down the airport. They had to turn the airplane around.”
She says the trip was long and unfruitful. “I have just been traveling for 12 hours only to end up right where I started,” she concludes.
What Happened At LaGuardia Airport?
Jones later shared that she learned why her flight was turned around.
At the time, operations at LaGuardia Airport had been severely disrupted after a serious incident on the runway.
Sunday night local time, a passenger plane collided with a firefighting vehicle shortly after landing, resulting in the tragic deaths of two pilots and dozens of reported injuries.
Following the collision, the airport shut down operations, leading to 600 canceled flights in and out, according to the BBC. By the next day, only one runway had reopened, creating major delays for incoming flights.
Commenters React
In the comments, viewers were stunned by how long the process took.
“Imagine being 5hrs early and still having to run for a plane,” one person wrote.
Others took a more cynical view of the situation. “Is America great yet,” another asked.
Some said the video made them nervous about their own travel plans. “I have to fly out in June, thinking about getting in line now,” a third joked.
And some pointed out the workers dealing with the chaos. “Praying for the TSA workers who have to deal with all this and not even getting paid,” another added.
@naenae_jonez3 Atlanta airport is insane. #daijnejones ♬ original sound – Nae Nae?
The Mary Sue has reached out to TSA via email and Jones via Instagram messages for comment.
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