SPOKANE, Wash. — Traveling during the holidays is always a challenge, but this year that challenge may start before travelers even walk through the Spokane International Airport’s sliding doors.
Ongoing construction, and the record breaking 150,000 people that Spokane International Airport says are expected to fly through the airport in the days surrounding Thanksgiving, may cause delays.
“Getting in here if you don’t know how to get in here it can be kind of confusing,” said Grady Przybylski, who was traveling to the Bahamas.
Jacob Thomas, a union flagger, described the traffic situation.
“I’m a union flagger, and we’ve actually flagged up by the airport before and getting people in and out. There’s a lot of traffic jam and yeah, it’s rough. So plan early,” Thomas said.
Another multi-million dollar construction project is planned along Airport Drive and Spotted Road.
“There’s always construction happening,” Thomas said.
“Yeah. It’s been busier and more than normal. Normally, I come here a lot, and travel for, like, football games and stuff, and it’s not that busy. But around this time, it gets busier,” Przybylski said.
The Spokane International Airport expects its busiest time to be between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., but says early mornings and late nights could be crowded as well.
“I’ve taken 5 a.m. flights before where they’re so packed and there’s like an hour line, which you never see at Spokane Airport, because it’s so small,” said Siena Riddell, who was traveling to Seattle. “So I made sure this time, with the holidays coming up, to leave myself enough time.”
Both the airport, as well as travelers, say arriving two hours before your flight boards is the best way to ensure you don’t miss your flight.
“It’s best to arrive early because it’s crowded, very crowded,” Thomas said.
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