Traveling at RSW during the holidays

Millions of Floridians have set off by plane to see family for the holidays.

So many in fact, RSW is warning about running out of parking and the security line continues to grow longer.

Triple A is expecting nearly 3,000,000 Floridians to travel more than 50 miles, and more than 200,000 of those people will be traveling by plane.

The thousands of cancellations over the summer season didn’t tarnish anybody’s view on flying during the holidays.

WINK News spoke to the CEO of Frontier Airlines and he said the staffing shortages many airlines had then, shouldn’t be a problem now.

Englewood residents Leonard and Kathy Lackman know it could be a lot worse than it is.

“It’s crazy. It’s crazy. But there again, you just have to start early,” Leonard and Kathy said.

“You should get in line and Minneapolis to come back. Yes. Huge compared to this,” Leonard and Kathy said.

No matter how much time it takes, the Lackmans have been ready to make the trek down from Englewood and deal with the lines from RSW to Minneapolis.

And why is it that the Lackmans are going to Minneapolis?

“To see those grandkids, of course,” Leonard said.

That’s the idea for millions of other Americans.

The Federal Aviation Administration said more than 48,000 flights are scheduled for Tuesday.

And, Officials said they may see up to 2,500,000 travelers on Wednesday.

Barry Biffle, the CEO of Frontier Airlines, shared his prediction for the holiday week.

“The flights will be full. But I think the industry is staffed for it. And we’re looking forward to having a great holiday season,” Biffle said.

And a great season for Southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian took a toll on the areas selling points forcing some airlines, like Frontier, to cut some flights to RSW.

“We did trim a few flights. But overall, our schedule is largely still intact. And so we were expecting that hopefully, by Presidents Day, we see the kind of the return to normal travel patterns,” Biffle said.

And that will be just in time for the Lackman’s to get back to their normal weather.

“I’m glad we don’t have snow in Florida,” Leonard said.

Airlines recommend giving yourself extra time this holiday season.

That means at least two hours or more before your flight takes off.

Something else to keep in mind, parking will be packed so don’t forget to add that time into your day.