Air travelers preparing for long lines during one of the busiest travel days of the year

Flights and airports across the country are expected to be packed on Sunday, one of the busiest traveling days of the year as people rush to get home after the Thanksgiving holiday.

RSW airport wasn’t packed early on Sunday. The lines were short and parking was abundant. Later in the day, however, that scene changed.

WINK News spoke with a parent who was dropping her child off at the airport to return back to school. They got to the airport two hours before her flight expecting a long line, but when it was empty, they decided to spend some extra time together before they parted ways.

“We got here at 5 expecting the line to be long, and then it was really short and we were like OK we woke up early for nothing,” said Ansley Tedford.

Audra Tedford said, “I was expecting to see full lines at security and then we woke up and it was empty I couldn’t believe it.”

While RSW wasn’t very busy early on Sunday morning, the crowds and lines are expected to grow as the day goes on. Those lines materialized later Sunday afternoon.

There were lines of cars at both the departures and arrivals.

Extra security lines have been set up for overflow. RSW is urging anyone flying out of the airport to arrive at least two hours early in anticipation of crowds.

Passengers told WINK News they experienced longer wait times when attempting to board their flights. Garret Brown was visiting Fort Myers and noticed the backup on his way home.

“The airport TSA was about an 80-minute wait in Philadelphia so lots of people traveling for the holidays. Everybody seemed to be in a good mood and excited to be out and without the pandemic and get to go outside and see their friends and family and hug and do all the fun things again,” Brown said.