Airport Overwhelmed as Flights Get Back to Normal

By Thursday, air travel in and out of Atlanta began a slow improvement. 

Security check lines were short by late morning, and travelers in the main atrium seemed calm even before a musical duo filled the area with smooth jazz.

“I thought there was going to be a lot more people here,” said Jessica Vickson of Peachtree City as she entered the main security checkpoint. 

Her flight Tuesday was canceled. She rebooked.  And when she arrived at the airport, she was surprised at what she didn’t see.   

“I’m kind of in shock, actually,” she said. “I thought we’d find a lot more stranded people.”

That didn’t happen on a wide scale.

Days before the weather moved in, airlines preemptively canceled flights and got their planes out of the thick of the storm. That kept a lot of people safely at home, avoiding a ripple effect of passenger backups said Hartsfield-Jackson spokesman Reese McCranie.

By early afternoon, the airport picked up.  And quickly.

Luggage carousels that’d been still for hours suddenly spit out suitcases, and the security checkpoint line soon began snaking around the baggage claim area.    

John Sander arrived four hours early for his flight home to St. Louis.  And he’s glad he did.

“I’d say there are 250 people in this line before you get anywhere near the security gate” he said.  The backup was at least an hour.  

A TSA official said the agency was understaffed because of the weather.  The rush came on so quickly, screeners struggled to keep up. 

TSA cargo and administrative personnel pitched in, and by late afternoon, the lines had eased.  But only slightly.

Meanwhile, airport spokesman Reese McCranie said he expects operations Friday to return to near-normal.