BWI flyers see fairly low wait times despite busy year-end travel period

BALTIMORE -- The last peak holiday travel period is in full swing at airports across the country, as people head to their end-of-year holiday destinations.

AAA is predicting more than 2.3 million Marylanders will be heading somewhere between now and the New Year. While the majority of travelers -- over 90% -- will be driving, more than 134,000 are catching a flight.

Manageable crowds

Friday is predicted to be one of the busiest travel days for this year-end holiday travel period. For BWI Thurgood Marshall, around 34,000 passengers are expected to fly out, according to an airport spokesman.

But, even as one of the busiest, travelers got a holiday treat: fairly low wait times.

Mary Stouten of Annapolis purposely picked Friday to travel to avoid crowds.

"I'm happy I can fly today instead of Saturday or Sunday. I thought it would be less crowded today, [compared to when] we get closer to Christmas," she said.

Angela Canady from Burtonsville said she left her house earlier than normal in anticipation of big crowds.

"I was actually surprised when I got here," Canady said. "It actually worked out well, today was a great day to travel."

Government shutdown concerns

The holiday buzz wasn't enough to quell all concerns with holiday travel.

Christopher Laudicina, who's traveling to Chicago, said a potential government shutdown's been on his mind.

"I'm hoping that doesn't happen for the holidays," he said.

On X, TSA administrator David Pekoske said TSA workers will keep working even if the government shuts down. He also said on a national level TSA is expecting to screen over 40 million passengers in this travel period.  

In that same post, Pekoske said if a shutdown were to go on for an extended amount of time, people should expect longer wait times at airports.

At BWI Thurgood Marshall, TSA's federal security director for Maryland Christopher Murgia said TSA is expecting to screen 340,000 passengers.

"We are prepared, we have our staffing up to speed. We have overtime that's there to fill our lines to ensure that we have all of our checkpoints open for screening," Murgia said.

What to carry, what to check

Like Thanksgiving, TSA is expecting people to be traveling with gifts and foods.

For gifts, TSA recommends you don't wrap your gifts if you're carrying it with you through security. Murgia recommends to instead put them in a gift bag because it'll make it easier to check if it needs to be checked.

Wrapped presents could be unwrapped by a TSA agent, if necessary.

For foods, TSA advises if it's pourable or spreadable to just put it in your checked bag. Solid food are okay to take through security.

This year, there's been a trend of people mistakenly bringing guns to security checkpoints. Murgia said 46 have been found so far this year at BWI Thurgood Marshall.

Bringing a gun with you to a security checkpoint could result in a fine of up to $15,000.

"You must check it, you must go with your airline and declare it. They must give you a paper [saying that it's] declared. It must be unloaded and packed in a hard-sided case," Murgia said. "That's the only way you can travel with a firearm."

Nationally, 65 guns have been found at security checkpoints.