CHARLOTTE — Most travelers recognize the pain of vacation travel and do everything they can to ease it.
Unfortunately, preparations and planning for this holiday season don’t seem to be going well at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
[ PREVIOUS: Travelers experience delays, standstill traffic at Charlotte Douglas ]
He said it’s not a matter of boarding the plane and parking it, but getting from the entrance to the airport to boarding the scheduled flight.
A viewer called the Channel 9 newsroom to say this was the worst crowd they’d ever seen on a holiday, even worse than Thanksgiving, which CLT predicted would be the busiest of the year. Ta.
According to viewers, there were only two TSA lines open, one of which was reserved for PreCheck members. Checkpoints 1 and E are open, but the rest are closed. We asked airport officials and TSA to confirm this.
It took this viewer 45 minutes to get through TSA at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, but TSA agents told him the situation would get worse throughout the day.
A Channel 9 cameraman at the airport said the line at Checkpoint 1 had backed up almost all the way to Checkpoint E. He also said the lines moved quickly.
The TSA told Channel 9 it expects a busier travel season nationwide than last year and will screen more than 2.5 million passengers each day on its busiest days. The agency predicts that December 21st, December 22nd, and January 1st will be the busiest days.
During Thanksgiving travel, TSA screened nearly 30 million passengers, setting a national record for the most passengers in a single day.
[ PUBLISHED YESTERDAY: How holiday travel is shaping up at CLT ]
TSA Administrator David Pekoske said, “We are ready to serve our busy passenger numbers this winter holiday season.”
TSA shared the following tips to keep in mind while traveling.
- Pack wisely and check what’s prohibited TSA websiteor text @askTSA to see if you can drop off your item.
- Arrive early – We are told to arrive at the airport two hours before your flight. CLT officials advise her to arrive two hours early for domestic flights and for him to arrive three hours early for international flights.
- have your ~ correct id Ready at the screening line.
- Please make sure the gift is unwrapped and available for inspection. Otherwise, TSA may have to unwrap it to see what’s inside.
- Enroll in TSA PreCheck. TSA says most PreCheck members wait less than five minutes at checkpoints.
By the time this article was published, the number of delays had doubled from eight to 17 flights. American Airlines officials told Channel 9 that as of 6:45 a.m., nine AA flights were delayed by more than 15 minutes from CLT. Many passengers expected to depart from CLT today.
>> Updated as of 12:10 a.m.: 72 flights delayed, 0 canceled.
Channel 9 reached out to airport officials and the TSA to ask why other checkpoints are closed, whether this is the biggest wave of fliers ever and what’s causing the headaches.
This is a developing story. We will update as more information becomes available.
(Notable: Dec. 22 – Airport travel rush intensifies)
This browser does not support the video element.