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What passengers can expect as Memphis airport braces for pre-pandemic Thanksgiving travel surge

Memphis International Airport is expecting 80,000 people over 10 days.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The week before Thanksgiving marks the start of the busy holiday travel season.

The Memphis International Airport is preparing for 2022’s travelers but is expecting pre-pandemic numbers. With more people taking to the skies, both passengers and the airport itself must take the proper steps to be ready for 2019-level crowds. 

The airport is expecting to see 80,000 people over the next 10 days. 

“Very busy travel period coming up,” said Memphis Airport Director of Marketing and Strategic Communications Glen Thomas. “It really starts tomorrow on the 18th and will run through November 28th.”

Sunday marked the airport’s busiest day since Dec. 1, 2019 (9,205 people). Some passengers who spoke with ABC24 were not optimistic about what will happen when it gets even busier.

“We’re still waiting for the luggage,” said Mae Iris Satterfield, who arrived from California. “Normally, the luggage comes in immediately, usually when you land. So they’re probably overwhelmed by the holiday travel.”

“I’ve been waiting for my bag 25, almost 30 minutes now and I got off the plane about 40 minutes ago,” said Sean Davis, who flew in from Oregon with his family. 

The Memphis airport expects the peak travel days to be November 18, November 20 and November 27. 

“We’ve got the staff here to handle the crowd,” Thomas said. “Certainly all aspects of the airline industry are still being affected by the pandemic. You see it in the airline schedules.” 

The airport has also had its history of malfunctions, including the moving walkways and parking garage elevators. 

“We try to stay on top of the moving walkways, elevators, escalators,” Thomas said. “This is the time of year when we have a significant amount of people coming through the airport in a short amount of time and we’ve got to make sure everything is working properly.”

As of Thursday, all six moving walkways were up and running. But of the four elevators in the parking garage, one is undergoing maintenance while another is completely out of service.

“We know those have been an issue,” Thomas said. “They’ve frequently gone down and we’re going to replace all of them in the coming months.”

The surging crowds and longer parking times are all part of why Thomas said getting to the airport two hours before one’s departure time is the best way for passengers to adapt. 

“For the most part, we’re ready for the Thanksgiving rush and we’re ready to welcome our passengers,” he said. 

The airport board approved the elevator replacement program for all four elevators in the parking garage in October. They expect the process will take a year-and-a-half.

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