Staffing concerns as holiday travel period takes off at ABIA

AUSTIN, Texas — If you’re one of the millions of people flying somewhere for Thanksgiving, make sure you plan ahead. ABIA says it’s expecting passenger traffic to pick up next week and they’re working to be prepared.

“Our teams are prepared to welcome a large volume of travelers,” said Samantha Rojas Austin-Bergstrom International Airport public information specialist.

The holiday travel period has taken flight at ABIA, and picking up with it is the foot traffic through the airport.

“We will have additional Department of Aviation staff, staff that will be working in the terminal throughout the busy travel periods to help passengers with wayfinding, line management, and to help our airline and TSA partners,” said Rojas.

ABIA is encouraging people to arrive two-and-a-half hours earlier if they have a domestic flight, and three hours before their international one. Despite those warnings, one Austin lawmaker is expressing concerns.

“I worry during this holiday season that we have some challenges there. I’ll be visiting within the next few days with the FAA administrator about this I will continue urging safety as a top priority,” said Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett.

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U.S. Rep. Doggett says his biggest area of concern is staffing. He calls it a safety issue.

“The federal aviation administration having less than half of the air traffic controllers that they say we should have in Austin,” he said.

Staffing issues with air traffic control officers can contribute to airport delays and congestion. In fact, it happened earlier this month.

Congressman Doggett says he’s been fighting on behalf of the airport to correct this issue, calling it a “failure” by the FAA.

“We need this protection year-round, but we know that traffic will really pick up here this next week and around the Christmas holiday,” said Doggett.

If this issue goes unchecked during the holiday season, Doggett says prepare to wait longer for your flights to arrive and leave.

“If you’re flying elsewhere check to see if there are traffic management slowdowns at those airports which could hold you up in getting to your final destination,” he said.

CBS Austin News has put in a request with the FAA for the average number of air traffic control workers that should be working at ABIA, they have not gotten those numbers in at the time of this article’s publication.