HOW BUSY WILL AIRPORT GET?

Thanksgiving travelers might see slightly smaller crowds at the airport this year, with airport officials projecting that passenger traffic will be down about 5 percent amid airline cutbacks and troubles in the economy.

It’s the first forecast decline since 2001, when terrorist hijackings dampened demand.

That could change on short notice, though. Airport general manager Ben DeCosta said Friday, “I would suspect that you’ll have some people who decide at the last minute to fly, so it may actually change a little bit.”

But the expected drop in traffic is not a surprise, because many airlines have cut flight schedules by 10 percent or more. While the reductions haven’t been as large in Atlanta, Delta Air Lines, AirTran Airways and other carriers have trimmed Hartsfield-Jackson domestic flight schedules. Airline flight capacity in Atlanta is down about 2 percent for the Thanksgiving period, according to the airport.

The airport’s early projections are for more than 1.5 million travelers to fly during the Thanksgiving travel period. The busiest days will be the Sunday after Thanksgiving, followed by the Monday after the holiday and the Wednesday before, said airport spokesman John Kennedy.

Specific daily numbers haven’t yet been forecast, but Kennedy said more than 250,000 people will use the airport on the busiest days.

He also said Thanksgiving travel appears to be starting earlier, even at the end of this week.

Last year, officials projected a 4.6 percent rise in Thanksgiving holiday travel. Still, a 5 percent decline will likely be imperceptible to peak-day fliers waiting in lines.

Hartsfield-Jackson in recent months has added security lanes, which it expects to speed the process through the airport. The airport now has 32 security lanes across three security checkpoints.

DeCosta said he will be “surprised” if travelers encounter waits of more than 10 minutes.

But airport and airline officials still advise that travelers allow extra time to get through the airport.

Transportation Security Administration deputy federal security adviser Beverly Harvard said that while many flying are regular travelers, “we realize we have a number of travelers who travel infrequently.”

She recommended that travelers approaching security have their boarding pass and identification ready and follow other procedures of the screening process.

“You don’t know how important it is for passengers to be prepared as they approach the checkpoint,” Harvard said.

Atlanta-based Delta, the largest carrier at Hartsfield-Jackson and now the largest carrier in the world after its merger with Northwest Airlines, expects to serve about 1.8 million customers nationwide, roughly flat compared with last year. Delta encourages passengers to check in online before going to the airport to smooth the travel experience.

The Air Transport Association, an airline industry group, said it expects planes will average close to 90 percent full over the Thanksgiving travel period.

In addition to thinning holiday crowds, the weak economy has also jeopardized progress on the airport’s new international terminal.

DeCosta warned last week that the credit crunch was hurting efforts to sell bonds to finance the project.

“We’re still hoping to get into the market, but we don’t have any sense that markets are thawing yet,” DeCosta said Friday.