ATLANTA — Passengers making their way through Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport were greeted with large crowds and long lines Saturday in what is already shaping up to be a busy holiday weekend.
Though travelers expected it to be busy, they said they were astonished by the massive delays.
"Our flight was supposed to be at 9 a.m. today, but it was moved to 2:10 p.m.," Magdalane Seliki said.
Seliki was on her way to Connecticut for her nephew's wedding. She said the crowd was unlike anything she had seen before.
"I've never seen this population of the airport," she said. "My daughter told me, 'you better look when you have another flight behind you.'"
She explained she needed a backup plan in case the delay snowballed into an issue, adding her nephew's event is Sunday and she didn't want to miss it.
Airport officials anticipate around 1.7 million people will make their way through Atlanta during the Fourth of July weekend. They're advising passengers to check the status of their flight throughout the day and put important items in their carry-on instead of their checked baggage.
Jeffrey Taves tried to heed this advice and some of his own while making his way to the security checkpoint for his flight to Boston, which had already been delayed once before.
"Get to the airport early? I mean, why try to push it, you know, give yourself a little extra time," he said.
He also wanted to remind other travelers to be kind to airport workers, it's a busy season for them too.