Memorial Day weekend and Friday’s record number of passengers were in the rearview mirror, but that didn’t stop lines at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport from stretching from the main security checkpoint to the atrium at one point Tuesday morning.
And the heaviest traffic, officials say, is expected between 1 and 5 p.m.
Airport spokesman Reese McCranie called Tuesday one of the busiest travel days after the Memorial Day holiday.
“You compound that with the fact that since Monday was a holiday, people are on their business travel today as opposed to yesterday,” he said.
TSA spokesman Mark Howell said “a couple lanes” went down early Tuesday morning, but added that the visuals were likely worse than the actual waits.
“We haven’t had a big problem with wait times,” Howell said.
Wait times, according to Hartsfield's website, ranged from 20 to 30 minutes. TSA's goal is to keep security line wait times under 20 minutes.
Howell said projections called for about 66,000 passengers to be screened Tuesday. The highest volume was expected between 1 and 5 p.m., he said, and screening stations will be staffed accordingly.
On Friday, Hartsfield screened just under 80,000 passengers, breaking its previous record of 77,000. That mark was set in November 2013.
Howell said that, overall, the weekend went “pretty good, considering the amount of volume we had.” He said “two or three” firearms were confiscated.