BWI airport travelers not overwhelmed by holiday travel crowds: "Not as busy as I thought"

BALTIMORE -- Passengers are flocking to BWI Airport this week to catch a flight to their Thanksgiving destination.

However, despite Wednesday traditionally being one of the busiest travel days of the year,  BWI Airport CEO and Executive Director Ricky Smith said he's not expecting much higher traveler traffic than last year.

Smith points to lower airline capacity, which means fewer seats on planes.

"Demand in the market is very strong, very high," Smith said. "However, we can only fly as many people as seats are available. Airline capacity is a major driver."

Raven Barry, who works at BWI and was flying to Atlanta, said airport workers have been preparing for the holiday travel rush.

"I think it's paid off," Barry said. "I'm looking around today and it looks great, it looks organized, it's not as busy as I thought. It looks like we have it under control."

Smooth travels

The Rera family drove to BWI from Lancaster, Pa., to catch a flight to Florida, although parents Angela and Daniel told their children they were headed to see family in Connecticut.

"We lied and we told them we were going to Connecticut to visit some family," Daniel said. "Told them to pack summer clothes...that it was gonna be very warm in Connecticut."

Since it was their first time flying altogether, Angela and Daniel wanted to do everything they could to make sure their travel plans went off without a hitch, including leaving early in case of snarled traffic.

"We left so early thinking it was gonna be like, really, really busy," Angela said. "Then we didn't even hit one minute of traffic. We joked it was like we've hit more traffic going to the Baltimore Zoo on a Tuesday."

While there was a decent crowd during the morning rush, by Wednesday afternoon the number of passengers had gone down to a trickle in comparison.

BWI parking concerns

There still were some obstacles, Keisha Pinkney and her three daughters had trouble finding parking.

But, for one of the busiest travel days, Pinkney didn't think it was too bad.

"I was like, let's get here early because it's gonna be crazy," Pinkney said. "Where is the line? I'm super happy about that."

BWI has more than 25,000 parking spots. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, Long Term Lot B is full. Express parking has around 10% of spots available, while the daily garage and Long Term Lot A have a little more than 40% of spots available.  

"The airport continues to offer sufficient parking capacity to meet demand," said BWI spokesperson Jonathan Dean. 

200,000 travelers expected

Smith said the BWI expects more than 200,000 travelers to pass through over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, which continues through Sunday.

The airport saw around 32,000 travelers on Tuesday, and Smith estimates up to 35,000 on Wednesday. For Sunday, which is usually the busiest day in the period, 40,000 travelers are expected to fly in and out of BWI.

"Travelers are reminded to give themselves plenty of time for parking, airline ticketing, and the TSA security screening process," Dean said. "The BWI Marshall Airport website provides real-time parking and security checkpoint information."

While there haven't been many delays or cancellations on Wednesday, Smith recommends contacting your airline if you are concerned about your flight.