The briefing in brief: Callouts at the TSA are rising and airports are beginning to close security checkpoints. Eight Gulf airports, only 750 flight miles apart, are the Strait of Hormuz in the sky. Who's flying--and who's not--in the Middle East. Why has the United States been so slow with evacuations? Terrible storms lead to two awful days in the U.S. skies. And more.

TSA SHUTDOWN REALLY BEGINNING TO BITE NATIONWIDE
After missing a full paycheck last week and receiving only about a third of their pay two weeks before that, TSA agents are beginning to call out in droves. Nationwide, the callout rate was above 10% on Monday (March 16), more than five times the normal average. But it was much worse at some major airports. At New York/Kennedy, for example, 30% of security checkpoint agents were absent. It was even higher at Houston/Hobby (35%) and Atlanta/Hartsfield (37%). It was nearly 21% at New York/LGA and almost 25% at Houston/Intercontinental. And we know it's getting worse because Philadelphia International is beginning to shutter checkpoints. The Terminal A-West, Terminal C and Terminal F checkpoints there are now closed. Waiting times today passed two hours today at Atlanta and several other airports. Prognosis: Since Republicans and Democrats are talking past each other, there's no end in sight for the month-long TSA shutdown. Best advice? Make sure your Known Traveler Number is up-to-date in your airline profile and PreCheck is marked on your boarding pass. And pack plenty of patience.

THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ OF THE SKIES
As the Iran conflict has dragged into a third week, commercial Gulf aviation has made only the slightest rebound. And it raises an unspoken reality: Most of us really know very little about where the key airports are located and how surprisingly close they are. It's fewer than 750 flight miles from Kuwait International (KWI), the northernmost major Gulf airport, to Muscat (MCT), on the Gulf of Oman. As you can see by the generic map--AI makes bad maps--six other key airports are strung out in between. Around 230 million flyers use those eight airports in six nations. As one international airline executive told me last week, the region's facilities are "the Strait of Hormuz of the skies, except they move people." The busiest airport, Dubai International (DBX), is the hub of Emirates Airline and handles 95 million passengers annually. It is only 75 land miles from Etihad Airways' hub, Abu Dhabi International, which handles almost 33 million flyers a year. Just 235 air miles from Dubai International is Doha, the home of Qatar Airways. Doha handles about 54 million passengers a year and is located just 80 nautical miles from Bahrain International, home of Gulf Air. Bahrain is only around 55 miles away via a causeway from Dammam (DMM) in Saudi Arabia.

WHO'S FLYING--AND WHO'S NOT--IN THE MIDDLE EAST NOW
The good news? Some carriers are now offering limited service into the Middle East. The bad news? Other carriers are extending flight cancellations into the summer. If you're trying to plan, here's what we know right now:
        Air Canada has cancelled flights to Dubai until April 30. Tel Aviv is off until May 2.
        Air France is cancelling flights only a few days at a time. At the moment, flights are off until March 21.
        American Airlines has cancelled Doha flights until May 7. Flights to Tel Aviv are cancelled until April 23.
        British Airways has cancelled flights to Dubai, Amman, Bahrain and Tel Aviv until until at least May 31. Doha nonstops won't operate before the end of April. Abu Dhabi flights are off indefinitely.
        Delta Air Lines has cancelled its flights from New York/Kennedy to Tel Aviv through March 31. Atlanta-TLV flights are cancelled through August 4.
        El Al is now operating a special slate of nonstops to Tel Aviv from Los Angeles, Miami and New York/JFK. Service will operate until March 21.
        Emirates Airline has resumed limited service to its Dubai hub from U.S. and Canada gateways.
        Etihad Airways is flying to its Abu Dhabi hub from several U.S. and Canada gateways, but its schedule is only valid through Thursday, March 19.
        KLM has halted flights to Dubai and Dammam and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, until March 28. Before the current hostilities, the airline said Tel Aviv flights would end March 1.
        Lufthansa and its allied carriers (Austrian, Brussels and Swiss) have cancelled all Middle East service until at least March 28. Tel Aviv is cancelled through April 9.
        Qatar Airways says it is now operating a limited service to its Doha hub from North America until March 28. There'll be flights from Miami, New York/JFK and Toronto/Pearson.
        United Airlines has cancelled flights to Dubai and Tel Aviv until April 19.

WHY WAS THE U.S. SO SLOW EVACUATING TRAVELERS?
To say the Trump Administration has been back-footed on evacuations since Day One is a bit on the nose. After all, President Trump himself admitted there was no evacuation plan because "it all happened very quickly." The problem with that claim? U.S. embassies and consulates in dangerous areas traditionally have assistance plans on file ready to be implemented if conditions go south. I say traditionally because the Trump team hasn't done things the way other administrations do. Another issue: DOGE layoffs hollowed out key parts of the State Department. Many of those who left took institutional knowledge and memory with them. The pace of evacuations hasn't picked up much, as you can see by coverage last week in The Wall Street Journal and The Hill. Even Fox News, which is almost always friendly to the Trump Administration, has questioned evacuation efforts.

BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
The horrendous weather on Monday (March 16) played havoc with schedules. FlightStats.com says there were more than 4,800 cancellations nationwide yesterday and just shy of 13,000 delays. You can't have that kind of disruption without a knock-on effect. So far today, as of 10pm ET, there have been almost 1,200 cancellations and nearly 8,600 delays. Worst of the worst? Atlanta, where more than half the flights are running late in the last two days.
        U.S. average gas prices jumped to $3.79 today (March 17), up more than 7 cents from Monday. The average national price of gasoline was $2.98 nationwide on February 28, the day hostilities started against Iran. A March 18 update: The AAA says the average price of a gallon of regular is now $3.84.