Airports are getting back to full capacity this week — just in time for the Thanksgiving rush.
At the same time, 40 major airports, including Tampa International, are getting back up to speed following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
The Federal Aviation Administration mandated flight reductions earlier this month to deal with a shortage of air traffic controllers.
That slowdown ended on Monday.
Now, TPA officials say they're ready to handle the holiday travel crowds.
They expect to see about 924,000 people pass through the airport between Thursday and Dec. 1st.
While they don’t think wait lines at TSA checkpoints will exceed 30 minutes, they're asking the public to remain patient.
“Probably once a week, we have a passenger that gets frustrated and loses control and gets into a confrontation, quite frankly, of their own making,” Kirk Skinner, the Federal Security Director for Greater Tampa Bay, said. “... even though you might be angry or frustrated, you can’t lay that on the officer, and you certainly can’t lay hands on an officer. And that’s happened.”
Skinner also said it's good that the shutdown ended and TSA agents are once again getting paid.
“It was almost a traumatic experience. For some folks, it was," he said. "They actually ran out of money, and they couldn’t buy food; they couldn’t get gas. So, that’s on me to make sure that the entire organization knows that we support them and we’ll do everything possible within the constraints that the agency puts on us to make sure that they’re taken care of.”
TSA supervisor Michael Barrett said he and his colleagues at TIA were not as impacted as those at other airports, but he understands why other airports were struggling.
“Imagine you’re not getting paid for 44 days,” Barrett said. “It’s very difficult to make it work if you don’t have money to pay for your car, your gas, maybe you don’t have childcare payments now. So yes, it doesn’t surprise me, but I know our agency did the best that they could to ensure that people could come to work.”
Officials advise travelers to arrive two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights.
They also warned against bringing Thanksgiving foods like gravy, cranberry sauce, or wine with you as you travel, as they will be confiscated.
