AUSTIN, Texas —
Thursday is expected to be the busiest travel day of the holiday season and the Austin airport (AUS) is expecting more traffic than usual.
AUS staff are prepared to handle the increase in people in addition to the drop in cold temperatures that cities across the country are starting to see. In an effort to make the travel day seamless, AUS has extra staff available to handle any issues.
"You know, what people forget is that even though the weather is good here in Texas, it's bad. It can be bad everywhere else," said Austin Airport Spokesperson Elizabeth Ferrer.
Ferrer said they are expecting anywhere from 26,000 to 29,000 passengers flying out through the weekend.
"There's going to be a lot of people. There's also going to be a lot of people who aren't used to traveling. They are, you know, family members that don't usually do regular travel, like business travelers, people that are new to our airport," explained Ferrer.
This is one of the busier times for the airport, but it's not the busiest. Toward the end of October, AUS saw a little over 43,000 passengers depart through the gates in one day.
"They're going to move a little bit slower through the airport, trying to get their bearings, trying to find where the gates are, trying to figure out how to even get to TSA. So the other big thing we recommend is packing your patience," said Ferrer.
While there isn't any freezing rain or snow predicted for our area, that's not the case for everyone's destinations.
"At the Austin airport we are responsible for maintaining the facility, the terminal, the roadways to the airport and the runways and the tarmac for airplanes to be able to land and depart safely. As far as flight schedules and whether a flight is going to leave or arrive on time, that really is an airline thing. And so because of that, it really is best to just be in communication with the airline," said Ferrer.
The advice that AUS is telling passengers is to try and follow the weather conditions for your destination. If your flight is still on schedule, it is recommended to arrive at the airport at least two and a half hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight.
If passengers are nervous about getting through AUS in a timely manner, avoid packing large amounts of liquid in your suitcase or anything that might delay moving through the TSA checkpoints.