Surge In Travel Leads To TSA Logjams At Charlotte-Douglas Airport

CHARLOTTE, NC — The new freedom brought on by widely available vaccines and eased-up pandemic restrictions is leading to headaches for some air travelers in airports across the nation, including Charlotte.

Hundreds of air travelers in Charlotte found their trips off to a very bumpy start over the weekend when they missed their flights due to backups at security screening checkpoints, according to reports.

NASCAR driver Tommy Joe Martins was one of hundreds of passengers stuck in lines Friday morning, and documented his frustration about "the single biggest TSA checkpoint disaster I've ever seen" on Twitter.

"There's [one] checkpoint open and it's backed up from the E checkpoint all the way past the middle of the terminal. People can't get in the building it's so backed up," Martins said. "And I'm precheck — showed up an hour and 15 mins early and made it to my gate [four] mins before boarding. Gonna be a lotttt of people missing flights this morning."

Congrats to @CLTAirport for the single biggest TSA checkpoint disaster I’ve ever seen this morning pic.twitter.com/w0eCvzVx3D

Recent backups prompted the airline to advise its customers to arrive at the airport at least two to three hours before their flight, the station said.

This past weekend was a big one for air travel around the nation with passenger numbers closing in on levels not seen since the summer travel season of 2019, according to the Transportation Security Administration. During Summer 2019, TSA screened as many as 2.6 million passengers a day.

As of Monday, they were screening about 2 million passengers a day, Mark Howell, TSA Southeast spokesperson, told Patch.

In Charlotte, TSA screened nearly 73,000 passengers between Friday, June 4 though Sunday, June 6, which is about 80 percent of the airport's pre-pandemic traffic levels, Howell said.

During that same three-day time period, TSA screened 36,885 checked bags.

Here's what TSA recommends for speeding your way through security checkpoints in Charlotte:

1. Check your bag. "People are bringing more stuff to the checkpoint, which increases the stuff to screen," Howell said. TSA is asking passengers to check their luggage when possible.

2. Consider going to the larger screening areas at the ends of the ticketing concourse, even if the line looks more overwhelming. Passengers can speed their security line wait times by heading to those with bigger queues, Howell said. In Charlotte, security checkpoints on the end of the concourse — A and E — may look like they have longer lines, but the larger waiting areas lead to greater capacity with a larger bank of screening machines and personnel, he said. Checkpoints at B,C, and D, by comparison, are smaller.

3. Be at the airport at least two hours before your flight. The time spent circling the parking garage for a spot or waiting for a shuttle bus does not count, Howell said. Departing passengers should be inside the airport doors with at least two hours to spare before their flight is set to leave.

"You can look for it to get busier," Howell said. "Getting there with plenty of time is key."

TSA is also hiring for 40 new screening positions in Charlotte. More information about job opportunities and how to apply for them may be found here.