TSA prepared for high holiday travel numbers

GREENVILLE, Wis. (WBAY) - With Thanksgiving now just a week away, Appleton International Airport is gearing up for what they expect to be one of their busiest travel periods in quite some time.

Today travel numbers at the airport are back to pre-pandemic levels, and officials don’t expect a decline this holiday season.

“Historically there has been a large increase in passenger flow around the holidays. So this is no different,” Pipia said.

Authorities want to remind travelers to remember their mask and arrive two hours before their flight to take care of what they need to.

“You just never know if you’re going to have traffic, you have to return a rental car, anything can happen, and you want to be at the airport earlier and get on the other side of that security,” Frank Pipia, a TSA representative said.

The biggest advice officials had is to pack smart! Despite all the signs and guides, TSA said people are constantly packing things in their carry-on that are not allowed. Discarding those items usually holds up security lines.

They want to remind people to leave large containers of liquids or anything that could be considered a weapon out of their carry-on.

“We expect with the holidays, of course we have more people, were confiscating more items.” Pipia.

This time of year food often comes through TSA as well. While things like spreadable cheese and cranberry sauce are not allowed, pies and baked good are fine to bring through TSA.

While the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving are expected to be busy, they say the Sunday after is really the most hectic because everyone is coming home from the holiday.

They stress that when re-packing to come home, you keep the guidelines in mind just as you did when you were heading out of town.

For more information on what you can and can’t bring through TSA, visit their website TSA.gov. They have a search bar that lets you check individual items.

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