TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — An increasing number of flight delays and cancellations are changing the way passengers travel, especially on a holiday weekend.
Nanette Wilcox said she arrives at the airport “probably like an hour earlier to what I would normally travel.”
The Tampa International Airport is planning for the possibility of schedule disruptions on July 4 weekend.
“It shuffles around our typical flow of passengers when there’s issues with the airlines,” airport spokeswoman Emily Nipps said.
Nipps expects the number of passengers at TPA to pick up Thursday and continue through the weekend.
Saturday will likely be the busiest day, with 60,000 passengers expected to come through the airport.
“Try to use some of our tools when you come to the airport to make it easier. We have an online booking system for parking that guarantees your parking space and you can order your food online now … try to go digital as much as possible,” Nipps suggested.
TPA said a record-breaking 1.9 million passengers traveled through the airport last month, making it the busiest May in the airport’s history.
Nipps says TPA doesn’t control airline schedules, but staff does everything they can to accommodate travelers dealing with delays.
“We try to check on the ticketing lines to make sure they’re being managed correctly and that we’re not seeing any backups. We have a passenger analytics tool, so, we can see when we’re going to have big crowds coming in. We make sure we’re staffed in the right areas, make sure we’re clean in the right areas,” she said.
The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is also expecting large crowds over the holiday weekend. They said July 2021 was the busiest month in the airport’s history. This year they have more flights.
“Comparing the July 4th holiday (Thursday 6/30 – Wednesday 7/6) 2022 week to (Thursday 7/1- Wednesday 7/7) 2021 week, we have 229 flight departures (30 more than in 2021) and 285 arriving flights (27 more than 2021),” the airport said in a statement.
Flight issues are the biggest concerns for passengers heading to destinations over the holiday.
More information for travelers is available on tampaairport.com and fly2pie.com.
