TSA absences fall sharply after US airport security workers get paid

March 31 (Reuters) - The Transportation Security Administration said absences among the nation's 50,000 security officers fell sharply on Monday as workers got paid after working six weeks without a paycheck.

The Homeland Security Department said the absence rate fell to 8.6% after being as high as 12.4% on Friday. The highest absences reported Monday were at Atlanta Monday with 29% of workers out along with around 20% at Houston's two aiports, Baltimore, New Orleans, New York JFK and Philadephia.

Major airports that had suffered multi-hour lines said Monday that operations had largely returned to normal.