Holiday's flow to be bigger, say 2 airports

Topping ’14 seen at LR, Highfill

The state's largest airports say the bustling Thanksgiving travel period will be busier than this time last year, in line with a national trend.

Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field reported that, based on U.S. Transportation Security Administration data, 40,400 passengers will fly out of the airport during the 12-day holiday travel period, which began last Thursday and ends Monday.

The figure is 2.7 percent higher than the 39,318 recorded during the same period in 2014, Clinton National spokesman Shane Carter said in an email.

At Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill, passenger boardings are projected to increase 10.2 percent in 2015 compared with a year ago, rising from 14,016 to 15,442, an increase of 1,426, said Kelly Johnson, the airport director at Northwest Arkansas Regional.

Airlines for America, the industry trade organization for the nation's leading airlines, projected that 25.3 million passengers will travel globally on U.S. airlines during the 12-day Thanksgiving travel period, the highest number since the recession.

The total is about 3 percent higher than the 24.5 million estimated to have traveled during Thanksgiving 2014.

To accommodate the increase, airlines are adding capacity in the form of larger aircraft and additional routes, according to the organization.

The increase in passengers comes as the U.S. State Department on Monday issued a worldwide travel alert for Americans because of an increase in threats by terrorists.

But U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that the government had no specific, credible information about a threat in the United States with consequences similar to those of the Paris attacks Nov. 13.

He encouraged Americans to continue with their travel plans.

Security has been increased at Northwest Arkansas Regional and other airports. Kelly Johnson, no relation to Jeh Johnson, said she couldn't comment on what extra security measures were taken but said they won't be evident to the traveling public.

"We don't anticipate any additional backup in security lines," she said Tuesday.

Sari Koshetz, spokesman for the Transportation Security Agency, which is under the Homeland Security Department, also declined to comment on security.

But she and others say it makes sense to allow more time to make flights during the holidays.

"We suggest travelers allow extra time around any major holiday, most especially Thanksgiving," she said. "Thanksgiving is the busiest time of the year for airline travel.

"The Christmas holiday period is spread out over more days, whereas the volume of passengers traveling for Thanksgiving is more compressed into specific days, notably the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday and Monday after Thanksgiving."

At Clinton National, the busiest day will be Sunday, when 4,300 passengers are scheduled to depart, said Carter, the airport spokesman.

Koshetz said her agency plans to have airport security checkpoints fully staffed nationwide during Thanksgiving and that it "remains committed to processing passengers as efficiently as possible while maintaining our primary focus on screening effectiveness."

Carter said that passengers, "to help ensure they arrive at their destination on-time and as stress-free as possible," should follow some common travel tips, which both he an Koshetz recommended:

• Because many flights will be full, passengers should be at the airport 90 minutes before their flights. This will allow time to check in, handle any security waits and be at the gate for an on-time departure.

• Passengers may bring one carry-on bag and one personal item, such as a purse or laptop computer.

• Liquids, gels and aerosols as carry-ons must be in 3-ounce containers or smaller that are placed in a 1-quart, clear-plastic zip-top bag. The limit is one zip-top bag per passenger.

• Before leaving home, passengers should check the airline's websites to make sure flights are on time and check in online if possible. However, those checking luggage will still need to stop at the airline ticket counter.

• For quick luggage pickup, customers may use metered parking in front of baggage claim. Those traveling by way of Clinton National may park faster using SmartPark system at the parking deck. It shows the first available parking spot, eliminating the need to search for one.

"It's better to have two hours to relax, eat, shop near your gate rather than take a chance missing your flight and then finding no seats on subsequent flights and not getting to your family celebration," Koshetz said.

Metro on 11/25/2015

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