SEATAC, Wash. — If you are heading to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport today after a long holiday weekend, make sure to give yourself extra time!
Almost 200,000 people are expected to go through the airport on Monday, which is about 6% more than the number of people who traveled for July 4th last year.
The security lines at SEA are notorious for constant changes; one minute the line is short, and the next the line is almost out the door.
Our crews watched Monday morning as the Checkpoint 4 security line ranged from a 10-minute wait to a 40-minute wait.
One man visiting Seattle from Florida said he expected the lines to be worse.
“I’d say Seattle is on the busy end of things,” said Chance. “But in terms of other places I’ve been efficiency-wise, it does pretty good.”
Airport officials say the month of June brought record-breaking crowds.
- Forecasted overall passenger levels for the period:
- Thursday, 7/3 @ 190,000
- Friday, 7/4 @140,000
- Saturday, 7/5 @ 176,000
- Sunday, 7/6 @ 199,000
- Monday, 7/7 @ 195,000
- Already in the last few weeks, the single-day record at SEA has been surpassed, with six additional days in June moving into the Top 10.
- Sunday, June 22, hit a new passenger volume record for outbound travelers through the security checkpoint with 75,429 (or about 199,000 overall passengers). This exceeded the previous records set last summer on August 18th (75,410) and 11th (75,407) – each about 198,000 overall passengers.
“Because of Fourth of July, I thought today would be the day heading back, but early on... this is busier,” said Chance, “but all-in-all not too bad.”
Travelers tell us they walked in hoping for the best.
“Got TSA PreCheck, got my boarding pass, we have everything we are carrying, I think it will work out pretty good, but I’m surprised at 4 a.m. it’s like this,” JR said.
The leader of a Girl Scout group of 31 people said they’re here to enjoy the experience.
“We are here having a good time with people, so it doesn’t matter, and before we know it, we will be at the front of the line trying to find our stuff,” Mary said.
Airport officials say June brought several record-breaking departure days, and they expect that to grow through the summer.
For all helpful SEA tips and tricks, head to: https://www.portseattle.org/page/traveler-updates-and-tips
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