Flight attendant urges travelers to wear masks as airports gear up for busy 4th of July weekend
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Fourth of July weekend will be busy at Bay Area airports. SFO is expecting the busiest weekend since the pandemic began but airlines are struggling to meet the high demand.
"I'm excited to see family and friends and spend quality time with them," said Nelson Jeter from Dublin.
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Jeter is taking off for Atlanta with his family and he won't be alone. The line for the TSA security checkpoint was long.
"I'm expecting to see a full plane, hopefully when we land in Atlanta, things will be normal," said Jeter.
SFO is bracing for a busy travel weekend, the busiest since the pandemic began.
"We've already broken the 40,000 passenger mark per day. We'll probably break it over the Fourth of July weekend," said SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel.
That increase in travel requires an increase in travel workers, American Airlines is planning 5,500 flights per day during the holiday weekend, but they say staffing issues have already forced them to cancel some flights thru the end of July.
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Southwest facing the same issues, urging employees to pick up extra shifts, offering more money.
"I'm nervous about traveling don't know what to expect and I have to wear a facemask for a long time," said Dana Lankin from San Jose.
For travelers who may be rusty, you can now ask the TSA on social media what you can and can't bring onboard in your carry-on.
ABC7 News reporter Cornell Barnard wasn't sure about his medium bottle of hand sanitizer, so he asked the TSA (@askTSA) new feature on Twitter and Facebook.
He posted a picture of the sanitizer and five mins later got a response.
The TSA said he could bring a larger bottle in a carry-on for my next trip if it's screened separately.
But you can't bring fireworks of any kind in a carry-on or luggage.
Sparklers were removed from a travelers bag recently.
Flight attendant Heather Crowell said she expects a busy travel weekend but that's not really new.
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"Flights are packed, most of my trips have been completely full since May. The pandemic is over for some but it's really not, wear your mask," said Crowell.
Oakland International Airport anticipates 160,000 travelers will pass through this holiday weekend. That's more than triple the amount of passengers the airport saw during the same time in 2020.
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