This Memorial Day weekend is set to be the busiest travel time in years after a drop in COVID-19 restrictions.
If you’re traveling over the holiday, the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority recommends to plan ahead and allow extra time. Airport officials ask anyone flying out of the city to arrive two hours before their flight is scheduled to depart.
AAA expects nearly 3.4 million people to fly this weekend, an 11% increase since 2022. The association predicts this Memorial Day will be the third-busiest since 2000 when AAA started tracking the holiday. The TSA says it’s prepared for the increase in travelers.
“TSA is ready to handle this summer’s anticipated increase in travel. Our staffing levels are better which is largely due to better pay for all TSA employees which starts on July 1,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. “Passengers can help as well by being prepared, by having their identification ready when they begin screening and checking to make sure they aren’t bringing firearms, oversized liquids or any other prohibited item into the checkpoint. One person’s actions can delay screening for everyone else.”
Syracuse's airport has announced an expansion of TSA security check hours as the weekend kicks off. The TSA security checkpoint will open a half hour earlier than usual, 3:30 a.m., to accommodate extra travelers.
The TSA recommends enrolling in the TSA PreCheck program if you’ll be traveling this summer.
To ensure efficiency, the agency announced that teenagers aged 13 to 17 may now accompany TSA PreCheck enrolled parents or guardians through the screening when traveling on the same reservation. The TSA PreCheck indicator must appear on the teen’s boarding pass. Children 12 and under may still accompany an enrolled parent or guardian when traveling through the TSA PreCheck lanes anytime without restriction.
The Syracuse Airport encourages travelers to monitor updates on drive-up parking availability on the airport’s website.
