Miami, Fort Lauderdale airports busy as South Floridians return home after Thanksgiving holiday
FORT LAUDERDALE - Many South Floridians will be hopping flights to return home Monday after the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Sunday was actually the busiest travel day of the holiday.
"It was a lot of people and busy. You got to get to the airport on time," said Jeffery Aquino who was flying home from Miami International Airport.
While terminals at Miami International and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International were busy, travelers said there were no significant disruptions.
"Maybe like 10 to 15 minute delays, that's about it," said Carlos Padilla.
With more than 50 million people projected to travel over the holiday, AAA said it will rank as the third busiest on record.
Miami International officials said they had a total of 1,066,187 passengers during the seven-day period from Monday, Nov. 20th, through Sunday, Nov. 26th.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International officials have said their numbers are near 2019 pre-pandemic levels, with nearly 800,000 flyers since last Monday.
Alex Rivas, who was flying home from Fort Lauderdale on Monday, said the process was going smoothly.
"It wasn't as hectic as I thought it would be. Pre-check helps a lot, a smaller line and it wasn't really as much of a headache as usual. It wasn't too bad actually," he said.
"We came from Norfolk to here and it was pretty smooth and then coming in here there was a little bit of traffic but they had people directing traffic so it wasn't too bad. We did self-check-in here so it was pretty easy, as long as you do the pre-check it's not too bad," said Domingo Reyes at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International as he waited for his flight home.
Going into the holiday period, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and the FAA promised they would do everything they could to ensure airline accountability and more flight paths for an easier travel experience.
