Spring break season is here for the Atlanta metro area, and tens of thousands of travelers will be heading toHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airportto kick off their trips.
Atlanta Public Schools will be observing spring break from April 6 to 10, meaning this weekend will be the first wave of increased air travel out ofAtlantato destinations around the world. The airport will also likely be busy next weekend as Atlanta locals return home.
Airport employees are coming off of weeks of stress asTSA agents were left unpaidduring a partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. While the shutdown is ongoing, an order fromPresident Trumpmeans TSA agents started receiving paychecks again at the beginning of the week, and many returned to work.
Lines to get through the security checkpoints topped out at more than 6 hours at the end of March before Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers weredeployed to some of the major airportsacross the country to aid TSA agents at the checkpoints.
As of Thursday, April 2, wait times for security wereback to normal, with just a few minutes wait in the afternoon.
Weekend will be first big test of recuperated TSA
In a statement from airport officials, Hartsfield-Jackson is expecting94,487 security screeningsto take place Friday, April 3.
An initial estimate reported 114,000 screenings, a possible record, but it was later amended by airport officials.
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The busiest travel days for vacation and leisure travel is Thursday, Friday and Sunday, the airport said, meaning those hoping to start their spring break at the end of this week will be hitting the peak times. Even with more efficient TSA operations, travelers are recommended to arrive at the airport 2.5 hours early for domestic flights and 3 hours early for international flights.
Is the TSA wait time tracker back online in Atlanta?
The Atlanta airport's TSA wait time tracker was briefly shut down when the wait times exceeded four hours for all checkpoints at the beginning of last week.
Instead, a message recommending all travelers arrive at the airport four hours before they were scheduled to board was posted on the website.
Now, the tracker is back up and showing real-time TSA wait times. The wait times are split by the main checkpoint, north checkpoint, lower north checkpoint, and south checkpoint, which is used for TSA PreCheck.
All expedited processes, like TSA PreCheck or Clear, should be open and operational this weekend.
Irene Wright is following the partial government shutdown's impact on TSA at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Find the Atlanta Connect reporter on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Possible record number of travelers expected in Atlanta airport Friday