Whether you’re driving or flying, the holiday rush is in full force across metro Atlanta

ATLANTA — Triple Team Traffic’s Mike Shields said Thursday would be the busiest time for the holiday rush on metro Atlanta’s roads.

“And that’s what we’ve seen all across Atlanta’s interstates, especially on the southside,” Shields said during Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m.

Shields showed viewers how traffic was bumper to bumper on Interstate 75 in Henry County. He suggested that if you have a Peach Pass, to use the express lanes if you are headed that way.

He also said all the express lanes on I-75 South will be heading in the southern direction throughout the weekend as people travel to their holiday destinations.

If you’re flying out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Channel 2′s Veronica Griffin has learned that an unexpected number of TSA agents calling in sick led to long lines over the weekend just as the newly upgraded checkpoints opened.

“There were certainly folks that waited longer than what we would like to see in the lobby at the airport. So we take that very seriously,” said TSA security director Robert Spinden.

Spinden told Griffin that a large number of employees called out sick during this flu and COVID-19 season and it caught them off guard.

He said they have made changes this week to address things.

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“We’re hiring some additional overtime. We saw that in place today. We screened all those about 31,000 passengers in about 30 minutes at the peak. You’ll see some additional K-9s and more lanes open things like that,” Spinden said.

With those changes, along with opening the check-point lines 30 minutes earlier in the morning, Griffin watched as several travelers breezed right through the lines on Thursday ahead of Friday, which is when more than 85,000 passengers are expected to be screened by the TSA.

But the even bigger number is the close to 320,000 passengers who will come, go or connect on Friday at the world’s busiest airport.

The Campbell family is on their way to Utah, happy to be ahead of the impending rush.

“We’re definitely getting ahead of it. I know Atlanta is always busy. I’m always impressed how they move people through,” Robert Campbell said.

TSA and the airport said people who are flying this weekend should arrive early 2.5 hours early, and add an additional 30 minutes if you need wheelchair assistance.

You can keep track of TSA waiting times on the airport’s website HERE.

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