DFW International Airport, Love Field Airport brace for busy Labor Day weekend
DALLAS – Around the country and in North Texas, airports are bracing for one of the busiest Labor Day weekends ever.
The Transportation Security Administration says it expects more than 17 million people to travel through airports this weekend - and officials at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport expect the same thing.
Love Field expects nearly 200,000 passengers to travel through the airport this weekend. Lines early Thursday morning were manageable but were expected to get busier throughout the day and the weekend.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines said it will serve more than 578,000 customers on nearly 5,000 flights this weekend, an estimated 12% more customers departing from DFW Airport than the same period last year.
DFW is expecting 1.4 million people to travel through its airport this weekend, a 6.4% increase from last year.
Friday is expected to be the busiest day around the country and in the Metroplex, as TSA expects 2.86 million people to get on a plane Friday.
TSA said air travel volumes this summer are the highest in their history - 239.8 million people have been screened since Memorial Day weekend. On July 7, more than 3 million people were screened, a TSA record.
DFW and Love Field advised travelers to arrive two hours early to make sure they didn't miss their flight.
Gas is also notably cheaper in Dallas-Fort Worth this Labor Day weekend - statewide prices are under $3 a gallon, around 10 cents per gallon cheaper than last weekend.
The record for gas prices this weekend was two years ago when they were close to $5 a gallon.