HOUSTON — If you are planning to fly this Thanksgiving holiday, pack your patience and get ready for possibly long lines.
Houston Airports said they're getting ready to welcome its largest Thanksgiving holiday crowd on record since 2019, with Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports expecting a combined 2.4 million travelers to take to the skies for the next 13 days.
The Friday before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving are forecasted to be the busiest air travel days in Houston.
Houston Airports said that to avoid the rush, arrive early and reserve parking beforehand at fly2houston.com/parking.
"We want your travel experience to be as stress-free as possible so getting that reservation out of the way is a good thing, to take that weight off your shoulders," Chief Operating Officer for Houston Airports System Jim Szczesniak said.
Szczesniak said to prepare for the influx of travelers, they’ve also put a pause during the holidays on ongoing construction over at Bush Airport to help with the road congestion, and they’re fully staffed.
"Customs is going to be fully staffed, TSA, so all the airports are going to have the full complement of staff available to deal with the demand that we're going to see," he said.
TSA officials also emphasized why it’s important for travelers to give themselves enough time to check their bags and go through security.
"Just give yourself time, time is your friend," said Doug Lovins, a supervisor for TSA at Hobby Airport.
Lovins said a lot of people leave things behind as they rush to catch their flight. On Thursday, TSA officials gave KHOU 11 News a behind-the-scenes look at its lost and found center.
From miscellaneous items like clothes and canes to more expensive items like laptops and iPads, Lovins said when someone leaves an item at a checkpoint it gets entered into a database by date and issued a tracking number.
He also recalled some of the more unique lost items he’d seen.
"Somebody left their prosthetic finger behind. I've also had people leave one shoe, they'll run down the hallway with one shoe," he said.
Lovins said the items are then kept for 30 days for folks to retrieve, and yes, there are security questions they ask to make sure it’s yours.
However, if no one claims it, the high-end items end up at TSA headquarters and the other items get picked up by the Texas Surplus Commission in Austin.