LAX Braces For Crush Of Labor Day Weekend Travelers
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Labor Day travel rush started Friday, and LAX is bracing for a large influx of travelers – not as much as they saw before the pandemic, but certainly more than last year.
Many of the travelers arriving at the airport said they were arriving early and getting people to drop them off, in attempt to make the whole process easier.
Airport officials say airlines have scheduled 3,289 flights from LAX this weekend – about double the number of flights that took off last year, and 78% compared to this weekend back in 2019.
"We are back in that circumstance where you need to give yourself two hours early for a domestic flight and three hours early for an international flight, even though there aren't that many of them right now," LAX spokesman Charles Pannunzio said.
For travelers who haven't been to LAX during the pandemic, there are quite a few new regulations when flying, in addition to construction zones.
"I took a half day off and then we were able to get here, like, you know, before...we had to plan ahead a little bit. I think that's the truck, honestly," Daryl Da Silva said.
Roshann Edwards was traveling with a granddaughter who was too young for a vaccination, so she also brought face shields, along with masks.
"The masks are there to protect us, so I think everyone should wear their masks," she said.
With the Delta variant pushing coronavirus cases up across the country, the CDC is urging people who are not vaccinated to avoid traveling this weekend. Officials across the travel industry are also urging people to be patient – reports of in-flight altercations have skyrocketed, largely due to pandemic stress and passengers refusing to comply with mask mandates.
Four of the right parking lots near the terminals at the airport are already at capacity.