Memorial Day weekend heralds the start of the summer travel season — and a particularly busy stretch at the world’s busiest airport.
Some 2.6 million people are expected to pass through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport from Wednesday through May 28, up from 2.5 million during the same time last year.
The Transportation Security Administration says it’s “fully staffed” and ready for the season despite the layoffs of dozens of probationary employees in Atlanta.
Friday is projected to be the busiest day, with more than 378,000 travelers passing through Hartsfield-Jackson — and more than 103,000 security screenings.
Airport officials urged travelers to arrive two to three hours early, check wait times online and make sure not to pack unauthorized items like firearms.
“We don’t want your memory of your vacation to Myrtle Beach to be, ‘Hey, I got stopped by the police, and I had to get out of line and everybody was staring at me because I had a firearm in my bag,’” said Maj. David Wilson, airport precinct commander for the Atlanta Police Department.
A recent AAA survey found 58% of Georgians planned to take a trip this summer, up slightly from 57% last year. About a fifth of Georgians, however, said they would take fewer summer trips because of personal financial concerns and worries about the economy.
The TSA expects to screen more than 710,000 passengers in Atlanta during the week of May 21- 28.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has planned its largest 2025 summer schedule from its hometown ever, with 1.1 million weekly seats.
Amid recent economic uncertainty, however, the company said in a recent earnings report it would start to cut capacity after summer peak season, beginning in August.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Spotlight on TSA staffing
TSA spokesman Mark Howell confirmed “dozens” of probationary employees in Atlanta were affected by recent federal cuts.
But the agency is “fully staffed” here, Lalit Lal, deputy federal security director for TSA at Hartsfield-Jackson, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“There was some impact, but we’ve already planned ahead of that,” Lal added. “We already have staff in place to be prepared for the busy summer.”
“Morale is good from our end,” he said. “We’re here serving the traveling public, and that’s really our goal here every day.”
TSA staffing had already been under scrutiny in Atlanta before these probationary cuts, when the airport saw two snowstorms in January cause two days of extremely long wait times driven in part by TSA callouts.
Mayor Andre Dickens expressed his frustration at the time and sent a letter to the TSA administrator urging a fix.
“We lose efficiency when TSA agents don’t show up,” he told the AJC in January. “This is about that federal organization being able to incentivize employees to come to work, or disincentivize them from not coming to work.”
Lal said the agency has adjusted its management schedule since January “just to make sure we’re all focused and ready to be here. We really don’t expect any challenges this summer.”
Howell added the schedule change is designed to “increase accountability for people that are working shifts” and ensure that employees are showing up when shifts start and lanes are “getting up and running quickly.”
Delayed lane openings, he said, can quickly increase wait times when peak passenger volume hits.
“The key to keeping the wait times down is getting in front of it early. Because as it starts to build, that’s when you’re going to get those wait times, when the rush happens.”
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