Air travelers bracing for the predicted onslaught on one of the busiest travel days of the year received an early Thanksgiving treat yesterday morning, as airport security checkpoints and baggage check-ins generally ran smoothly.
But for those hitting the roads, particularly major thoroughfares in the Washington area such as Interstate 95 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, heavy pre-holiday traffic, exacerbated by rain and wind, made the going a hard, long slog.
I-95 in Maryland was congested in both directions by 3 p.m., particularly at the junction with the Capital Beltway, doubling normal travel times.
Rain clouds covered the I-95 corridor from Richmond to New York yesterday, dumping up to an inch in some places.
But at the Washington area’s three major airports, few delays were reported.
About 650,000 passengers were predicted to use Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from Nov. 17 through Monday, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which manages Reagan and Washington Dulles International airports. The airport’s busiest day was expected to be yesterday, with 72,500 passengers.
To the surprise of Reagan Airport workers, however, the morning before Thanksgiving was easier than expected.
Alice Bertele, who works in traveler aid and information, said it was the fastest she has seen things move in the nine years she has been on the job, despite the number of people.
“It’s been about double what is usually here, but everything’s been moving really fast,” she said. “So far, [there are] no big backups. I expect it to change later.”
Robert Hamm, while waiting for a flight from Reagan Airport to Chicago, said he didn’t have any problems with waiting in line, but he wasn’t too sure about the guaranteed wait time.
“They promised me 10 minutes to get through here, so we’ll see,” he said. “I came early, so if it’s an hour, I can take it.”
Claudia Neba, 19, who arrived at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport yesterday afternoon on a direct flight from Buffalo, N.Y., said lines were a bit longer than normal but moved quickly.
“I was expecting more of a nightmare, but it wasn’t that bad,” said Miss Neba, a University at Buffalo student who is visiting her family this week in Randallstown, Md.
Laura Oxley, 20, of Chicago, said she arrived at O’Hare International Airport 2 hours early for a United Airlines flight to BWI but breezed through security in 15 minutes.
“So I had to sit around and wait” for my flight, said Miss Oxley, who is visiting her family this week in Dover, Del. “I don’t know why things were so easy — I think people just kind of expected the worst and everybody showed up really early and was really prepared.”
BWI expected about 80,000 passengers yesterday — about 25,000 more than the airport handles on a typical day.
One of the biggest headaches for fliers this year is the Transportation Security Administration’s rules regarding liquids and gels, which went into effect in August after British authorities thwarted a terrorist plan involving at least 10 U.S.-bound airliners.
The rule, dubbed “3-1-1,” means passengers cannot carry any liquid, solvent, aerosol, cream or lotion aboard a flight in anything larger than a 3-ounce container; the items must fit into a clear, one-quart bag; and only one such bag is allowed per passenger.
Lance Charles, 28, who flew to BWI from Portland, Ore., yesterday, said the restrictions caused few problems because most passengers were familiar with them.
“There was one lady who didn’t have her liquids in a clear bag, but everyone else took their shoes off and pulled out their liquid bags,” said Mr. Charles, of Vancouver, Wash. “Everything just flowed.”
By midafternoon, security and baggage check-in lines at BWI were growing larger, although most still were moving briskly.
Some scattered problems were reported at airports across the country.
Northwest Airlines ground employees in Minneapolis stopped working for about a half-hour yesterday to protest the loss of some duties to a nonunion contractor.
The work-stoppage delayed about 13 Northwest flights at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, a Northwest hub and the nation’s 10th-busiest airport.
As airlines begin one of their biggest travel periods of the year, the industry received a blow from an internal government watchdog that accused the airlines of poor customer service.
In a review of 14 large U.S. airlines, the Transportation Department’s inspector general issued a report to Congress, made public yesterday, that said the industry has failed to give passengers accurate and timely information about delays and cancellations, train employees who assist passengers with disabilities, explain to frequent fliers the rules and restrictions governing redemptions, and compensate passengers who agree to give up seats on overbooked flights.
The inspector general also said the Transportation Department must improve its oversight of the industry.
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