CHARLOTTE – Most travelers understand the pain of vacation travel and do what they can to mediate it.
Unfortunately, preparation and planning don't seem to be having much success this holiday season at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
[ PREVIOUS: Travelers experience delays, standstill traffic at Charlotte Douglas ]
He said access and parking aren't the issue — getting from the airport entrance to your scheduled flight is the issue.
A viewer called the Channel 9 newsroom to tell us this was the worst streak they had ever seen on a holiday, even worse than Thanksgiving, which CLT predicted would be its busiest day of the year.
The viewer said there are only two TSA lines open, one of which is exclusive to PreCheck members. Checkpoints 1 and E are open, but the rest are closed. We've asked airport officials and TSA to confirm this.
It took this viewer 45 minutes to get through TSA at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, but TSA officials told him it would get worse throughout the day.
A Channel 9 cameraman at the airport said that the line at Checkpoint 1 was closed almost until Checkpoint E. He also said that the line was moving quickly.
The TSA told Channel 9 they expect a busier travel season than last year nationwide, and on the busiest days, the agency will screen more than 2.5 million travelers daily. The agency expects December 21, December 22 and January 1 to be the busiest days.
During Thanksgiving travel, the Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 30 million passengers, breaking the record for the largest number of passengers in a single day nationwide.
[ PUBLISHED YESTERDAY: How holiday travel is shaping up at CLT ]
“We are prepared to handle busy passenger volumes this winter holiday season,” said TSA Administrator David Pekosky.
The TSA shared these tips to keep in mind while traveling:
- Pack your bags and check what's off limits TSA websiteOr text @askTSA to see if you can bring an item.
- Arrive early – They say you should arrive at the airport two hours before your flight. CLT officials advise you to arrive 2 hours before your domestic flight and 3 hours before your international flight.
- Do you have Valid identifier Ready in the inspection line.
- Ensure that gifts are unwrapped and can be examined. Otherwise, TSA may have to remove the cover to check its contents.
- Sign up for TSA PreCheck. The TSA says most PreCheck members wait less than five minutes at checkpoints.
In the time it took to publish this article, the number of delays has doubled from eight to 17. American Airlines officials told Channel 9 there were nine AA flights delayed more than 15 minutes from CLT as of 6:45 a.m., and they could not share how Many passengers were expecting to fly from CLT today.
>> Updated as of 7:40 p.m.: 163 flights postponed, one flight cancelled
Channel 9 reached out to airport officials and the TSA to ask why other checkpoints were closed, whether this was the highest number of flyers they had seen, and what might be causing the headaches.
This is a developing story. We will update it when we learn more information.
(Watch: December 22 – Travel rush increases at the airport)
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