Atlanta airport employees prepare for millions of passengers over holiday travel period

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — No matter where you are headed over the next week, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport officials say they are prepared for the holiday travel period.

In fact, experts say over three million passengers are expected to fly from Hartsfield to their holiday destinations, starting with the busiest day on Friday.

A major security checkpoint update is now finished at Hartsfield and that means more TSA lanes should be up and running so things can go smoother this holiday season.

Referencing the security update, traveler Hafsah Byard said, “I feel like that’s a good idea because there will be a lot of people here and it will be crowded. I feel like it’s a good way to get people to their flights.”

“I’m excited. I haven’t seen my family in a while,” said Avery Carriuolo, another passenger. “It should be fun; hoping it all goes smoothly. I’m not too worried about it.”

Bloomberg’s Steve Potisk reports a record high of more than 3.3 million Georgians will drive to their holiday destinations, according to auto club AAA. That’s an increase of one million compared to last year.

AAA experts forecast that over 115 million people will go 50 miles or more from home during the 10 days between Dec. 23 and New Year’s Day. According to The Associated Press, that’s 2.2% more than AAA predicted during the comparable stretch last year.

AAA spokeswoman Aixa Diaz told The AP, “That desire to get away is stronger than we have seen in a very long time. People are willing to adjust their budgets in other areas of their life, but they want to keep traveling.”

This year’s holiday season will still fall 3% short of record travel in 2019, “the last Christmas before COVID-19 hit the United States,” AAA predicts.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, the number of travelers going through U.S. airport checkpoints is up 12.4% over last year and 1.4% higher than in 2019. “Travel around the Thanksgiving Day holiday topped 2019 numbers, peaking at 2.9 million — a single-day record for TSA — screened on Sunday, Nov. 26,” The AP’s David Koenig writes.

“Airlines are predicting a blockbuster holiday season,” Koenig adds.

According to Airlines for America, 39 million people will board U.S. flights between now and Jan. 2. “That’s about 2.8 million a day on average,” Koenig reports. “The trade group for big U.S. carriers expects about 3 million on the peak days - the Thursday and Friday before Christmas and the four days after the holiday.”

AAA predicts that 7.5 million people will fly in the U.S. in late December, “but the club expects far more — nearly 104 million — to drive over the holidays,” Koenig writes.

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