Delta takes drastic action by stripping lawmakers of special perk until they end shutdown causing airport misery for millions

• READ MORE: Inside the airport meltdown as TSA agents plead for cash 

Travelers are facing hours-long security lines, missed flights and growing chaos at US airports - and now one airline is taking aim at the people many blame: Congress.

Delta Air Lines has stripped lawmakers of a little-known VIP travel perk as the shutdown leaves TSA agents unpaid and airports stretched to breaking point.

The move means members of Congress and their staff will no longer get access to a dedicated airline help desk that fast-tracks bookings, changes and support.

Now congress members will have to endure the misery that the masses have faced while they have been swept through check-in with ease. 

Perks included airport escorts and red coat services. But for the time being, while its Capitol Desk reservation line remains active, lawmakers will now 'be treated like any other passenger according to their SkyMiles status'.

'Due to the impact on resources from the longstanding government shutdown, Delta will temporarily suspend specialty services to members of Congress flying Delta,' the company said in a statement.

'Next to safety, Delta's No. 1 priority is taking care of our people and customers, which has become increasingly difficult in the current environment.' 

Last week, Delta's CEO Ed Bastian sharply criticized Congress for letting DHS funding expire, leaving Transportation Security Administration employees without full pay for more than a month. 

The airline's chief blasted lawmakers, calling it 'inexcusable' that frontline security workers are being used as 'political chips'.  

'It's inexcusable that our security agents, our frontline agents, that are essential to what we do, are not being paid, and it's ridiculous to see them being used as political chips,' Bastian told CNBC. 'We're outraged.'

Nationwide, TSA wait times have surged, as call-out rates - which were around 2 percent before the shutdown - have spiked past 10 percent due to the funding lapse, according to acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl.  Around 400 TSA workers have quit since the partial shutdown began.  

According to an agency spokesperson, TSA employees last received a full paycheck on February 14, followed by a partial payment on February 28, and missed their March 13 pay. Their next paycheck is scheduled for Friday. 

Democrats have been leveraging the Senate filibuster to block a DHS funding bill as part of a push for broad reforms to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

Republicans have opposed efforts to prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from wearing masks and to impose stricter judicial warrant requirements.

On Monday, Trump deployed ICE agents to airports nationwide to help ease TSA staffing shortages caused by the partial shutdown.

This marks the third DHS funding lapse that TSA employees have endured in the past six months.