ST. LOUIS — With Labor Day weekend ahead of us, travelers will be taking their last vacation of the summer.
Friday and Monday are expected to be the busiest days to fly. The Federal Aviation Administration predicts that this will be the third-busiest holiday weekend of the year.
The TSA says it expects an 11 percent increase in passengers this Labor Day weekend compared to last year. The TSA also expects to screen more than 14 million passengers from Friday through Wednesday.
That number doesn’t worry Patty and Carl McKown. Even though this will be the first time they’ll be flying on a plane in 40 years.
“Last time I was on one, it had propellers,” said Carl McKown. “It was a military C1-30,”
The two were at Lambert International Airport Friday, and they said they are headed to Alaska this holiday weekend.
“It’s a 37-year late honeymoon. We raised two special needs kids, and the oldest one is okay enough to take care of the youngest one, and we’re going to Alaska. Alone!” said Patty McKown.
Sitting next to the couple at the airport was Michelle Beckerle, a frequent flyer who is used to getting to the airport early, but missed her flight because of a long TSA line.
“We had a flight to Las Vegas for a trip, and we waited in the TSA check line for almost an hour and a half,” she said.
Beckerle’s luggage made it to Las Vegas, and she’s stuck at the airport waiting for it to return. Her advice to anyone flying is to get a TSA PreCheck.
Some drivers FOX 2 spoke to had advice for other motorists traveling this weekend.
“Leave early, very early, fill up in the mornings,” said Tameshia Williams.
“Just be careful and always pay attention to the road. Everybody don’t know how to drive so you have to be careful of the other drivers,” said Diana Johnson.
AAA said travelers should leave as soon as possible to avoid travel delays.
