TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — On this particular Tuesday, traveler Mason Thomas found Tucson International Airport to a relatively calm place.
He didn't have to wait long for his luggage to pop out of the conveyor belt. “I was probably sitting over there for about 10 minutes," Thomas said, "before the luggage thing started and then my luggage came out two to three minutes later.”
One floor above him, TSA lines kept moving, too. “I’ve been to a lot of other airports and this one was a lot smoother as of right now,” Thomas said.
Fellow travelers like John and Tedi Velsko from Alaska said they felt lucky to have landed on a slow day. The Velskos are returning snowbirds who said they understand, depending on the year, a rush of people can come in and out of TUS.
"Sometimes it’s been really crowded," John Velsko said. "This wasn’t crowded at all."
Tucson Airport Authority said they don't expect to see their first mad dash of the holiday season until the Sunday after Thanksgiving — anticipating 15,000 travelers, followed by smaller spurts of traffic the day before Thanksgiving and the Monday after.
Austin Wright, TAA's chief communications officer, said this year, the airport has 16 percent more space on flights compared to last year; in essence, he said, that means TUS has bigger planes flying in, and there are more frequent trips scheduled with their existing air carriers.
“Around the holidays, you get a lot of travelers that maybe don’t travel very often," Wright said. "It’s good to get to the airport just a little bit earlier than you normally would,” Wright said, recommending that anyone consider getting to the facility two hours before departure.
Wright said operations have been smoother lately now that there's a taxiway connecting one end of the airport to the other.
As fuller planes start landing this month, Wright also said TUS is building a new, second runway. One will be just for commercial airlines, the other will be reserved for military use.
On top of that upgrade, Wright said TAA plans to add more new seats in public areas, and more outlet spaces; and in the middle of the holiday season, TUS will add new flights to destinations like Orange County, CA.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
