AAA is estimating more than 7 million people will fly for the holidays and the Syracuse Hancock International Airport is readying for one of its busiest holiday travel seasons ever.
Matthew Szwejbka, of the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority, said the airport is expecting around 80,000 travelers during the holiday travel stretch of December 16 through January 3.
"That's about a 13% increase over our busiest year, which was we busiest year we've had in 30 years, which was 2019," Szwejbka said.
He said the airport is prepared for increased traffic with expanded parking along with an online status indicator for travelers to find open lots.
With a major winter storm affecting the region Friday into Saturday, with high winds, cold temperatures and icy conditions, several flights may delay or cancel. Szwejbka said the airport maintenance team will work to keep the airport operational through whatever mother nature throws at them. Some airlines are offering travel waivers as another option for travelers needing to alter their plans with the storm.
"We want our travelers checking directly with their airline to confirm the status of their flight," Szwejbka said. "But the reality is some airlines when a critical threshold is hit, even though we're safe, secure, and operational, they may not choose to conduct operations that day."
Szwejbka says to arrive two hours prior to your scheduled departure time, even if your flight is delayed, because Transportation Security Administration checkpoint hours end at 9 p.m. To help make going through security easy, TSA has an online guide for what items can be packed on a plane — especially as travelers bring gifts to and from their destinations.
"They say, if you can avoid it, do not wrap your gifts before traveling," Szwejbka said. "That'll make it a heck of a lot easier going through the TSA security checkpoint."
If travelers do have to pack their gifts wrapped, Szwejbka said to use gift bags instead to make the security screening process easiest.
