Stormy weather causes hundreds of flight delays at Atlanta airport ahead of Thanksgiving

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Air travelers flying for the Thanksgiving holiday saw their plans upended due to storms in the southeast and northeast.

Well over 300 flights into and out of Atlanta were delayed, and that number could rise later Tuesday night.

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“I’m hoping and praying my flight isn’t delayed.” air traveler Ravaye Stollings told Channel 2′s Tom Regan.

The world’s busiest airport is expected to see more than 3.5 million passengers pass through over the 10-day holiday Thanksgiving travel period. That would match or exceed pre-pandemic passenger volume. The TSA has added extra security officers to speed up screening at checkpoints.

The goal is to keep wait times to 30 minutes or less.

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With the severe weather, many passengers described a bumpy flight, after arriving at the airport.

“It was like we were on a roller coaster ride. Real turbulent. I turned to my wife and said ‘Boy, we had some potholes in the road today’. It was really bad and then coming in landing, it was rough. Really rough,” said air traveler Mike Kegel.

Airport officials say the day before Thanksgiving will be busy. They advise arriving at the airport at least two hours before flight departure time to allow extra time for parking and passing through the security checkpoints.

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