Preparing for a busy travel weekend

GREAT FALLS — This weekend will be one of the busiest weekends for travel in the country. In central Montana, there are a few things you can do to make sure your travel goes smoothly.

Great Falls International Airport Director John Faulkner said, “You know, school lets out. We get close to the end of the week, we’ll see our peak loads, but, it actually noticed quite a few people coming in already,”

Faulkner says the airport usually sees around 500 people a day. This weekend, it’ll be closer to six or 700.

Faulkner said, “I mean we’re seeing about a burst of about 15 percent extra capacity, every day.”

Although there will be increased traffic, it should not lead to delays here in Great Falls.

Faulkner said, “Flights inbound can be delayed. Thus the outbound is delayed, but, not necessarily here. We have the facilities we need to really process traffic pretty efficiently.”

Faulkner says the best thing you can do is check in early and arrive two hours before your flight in case you are caught in traffic, longer security lines, or even airport construction.

Faulkner explained, “This year, the projects run a little bit late, but we’ve asked the crews to try and straighten up their areas and consolidate the areas that are closed off as much as we can.”

However, flying isn’t the only option. You can catch the Amtrak Empire Builder along the Highline.

Marc Magliari, Amtrak Spokesman said, “We’ve only been running the Empire Builder under Amtrak since 1971.”

While you may forget about train transportation in Montana, it’s Empire Builder line has actually grown more than 11 percent in the past year.

Magliari said, “We have more people riding Amtrak now than were riding Amtrak before Covid.”

The Empire Builder line can take you from Chicago, Illinois to Portland, Oregon or Seatlle, Washington, usually for less than a plane ticket.

Magliari said, “It’s a much more casual experience. Sort of like, you know, riding a city bus or even intercity bus versus a plane.”

Just remember to arrive early, check train schedules often, and buy your tickets early.

Magliari said, “If you want to lock in a fair and you don’t really know what gasoline prices are going to be three, six, eight, ten, 11 months from now. You don’t know what airfares are going to be. You can buy those tickets right now”

NO MATTER HOW YOU TRAVEL, PUT YOUR AND OTHERS’ SAFETY FIRST.

Faulkner said, “If you see something, say something. I mean, that’s always important to remember during peak times, too.”

Great Falls International Airport website can be found here.

More on the Empire Builder can be found here.