Flying out of Atlanta? Prepare to hunt for a parking spot
ATLANTA, Ga - With Thanksgiving just a few days away, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is preparing for what could be one of its busiest travel weeks yet.
Most Augusta fliers through the airport – the world’s busiest – either because they drive to Atlanta to depart or else because they change planes there after flying out of Augusta.
Around 4.2 million people are projected to fly through the Atlanta airport this week. That would be its top Thanksgiving travel season to date.
The Department of Transportation anticipates Tuesday and Sunday will be the busiest travel days.
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If you’re driving to Atlanta to fly out of the airport, you should know that parking could be an issue.
Three of the airport’s 10 parking lots reached capacity on Sunday.
The ATL Select, International Hourly, and International Park-Ride lots were all filled, according to airport’s website.
Gregory Crabb flew into the airport on Sunday. As he’s getting geared up for a hectic holiday travel rush.
“I expect it to be crazy,” Crabb said. “Atlanta has a lot of traffic, so I expect parking lots to be filled up pretty quick.”
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He urged fellow fliers to plan ahead in order to secure parking and avoid unnecessary stress.
“Get here early,” Crabb said. “It will probably take a little bit, so go ahead and adjust.”
Despite more than 32,000 parking spaces available at the airport, Malikah Ready said searching for a spot can be a tough task.
“The lack of predictability of these particular parking lots might be more of a challenge to navigate,” she said. “Especially, if you’re cutting it close to your flight.”
As the airport’s staff braces for busy days ahead, they’re encouraging travelers to exercise patience and plan ahead, with U.S. air travel is back from a decline during the pandemic, and then some.
“All 10 of our top busiest days in our 23 years have occurred since the 24th of May of this year,” Transportation Security istration chief David Pekoske said.
Plan to get to the airport at least two and a half hours before your domestic flight, or three hours if you’re flying internationally.
Many airlines close the door to the plane 10 to 15 minutes before departure, so you don’t want to be caught running through the airport to catch your flight.
The Transportation Security istration believes it can keep screening times down to 30 minutes or less for standard engers, and 10 minutes or less for those with pre-check.
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Pakoske said you can help yourself by making sure the bag you pack is empty to begin with, putting liquids exceeding the 3.4 ounce limit in your checked bag, and for any questions not covered on the TSA website, you can now text the agency.
“If you text, ask TSA, no spaces, you will get an answer back from us very quickly, with the same kind of questions like ‘Can I bring a turkey?’ for example,” Pakoske said. “Can I bring stuffing into the checkpoint operations for screening?”
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The FAA continues to battle air traffic controller shortages, which have been responsible for delays for years. The agency believes shifting staff around and technological advancement can improve the situation.
“During the Thanksgiving travel period, we will use traffic flow management initiatives to deal with any staffing shortages on that particular day in this airspace, and we expect to have some of those shortages,” FAA Michael Whitaker said.
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