Large crowds pass through Atlanta airport on busiest travel day during Thanksgiving holiday

ATLANTA — Thanksgiving holiday travel has wrapped up and large crowds passed through the world’s busiest airport.

At Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, hundreds of thousands passed through during the holiday weekend.

“It’s been shoulder to shoulder, just people everywhere,” said Alexis Toombs.

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Toombs said it’s been a long travel day for her and her family.

“We just left Connecticut and we’re coming home,” she said.

Long lines greeted them at Hartsfield-Jackson.

“The busiest day of the year appears to be the Sunday after Thanksgiving because the window to come back home is a lot shorter,” said Johnny Jones with AFGE, the union that represents TSA employees.

Jones said nationwide, they’re expecting to screen almost 3 million people through security checkpoints on Sunday.

The average wait time for security checkpoints was anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

“We’re working very hard. We also have to follow the procedures to the tee. The lines do get back up but not because we’re short-staffed or anything but just because there’s so much volume,” said Jones.

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Many people experienced that firsthand on Sunday.

“I saw the line outside and I’ve never seen it before and I was like oh my gosh,” said Parker Condon.

“They’re really organized, so I really appreciate that. We’ve been in line about 30 minutes now, and we still don’t see the checkpoint quite yet,” said Jessica Freel.

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IN OTHER NEWS:

TSA asks travelers to pack patience ahead of busiest travel day at Atlanta airport An estimated 3.6 million people have traveled through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport this week.

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