Delays, lines at Atlanta airport on Monday after storms
Spring break at Atlanta's airport
The severe storms Sunday and into Monday wreaked havoc at the world's busiest airport. Things have dried out, but delays and cancellations continue. And that's not the only problem. For several hours. TSA wait times were more than an hour.
ATLANTA, Ga. - Spring break travelers are facing major delays and long lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport following a wave of weather-related disruptions over the weekend.
RELATED: Georgia severe weather: Cleanup begins, flood watch remains in effect
What we know:
On Monday, more than 500 flight delays and at least 50 cancellations were reported, according to FlightAware. The disruptions are being described as a ripple effect from a ground stop issued Sunday due to severe storms across the Southeast.
Passengers arriving at the airport on Monday were met with long wait times at security checkpoints. TSA officials reported wait times of up to 80 minutes at the main checkpoint earlier in the day, with TSA PreCheck lines also stretching over 30 minutes at one point.
The Transportation Security Administration says more than 110,000 passengers could pass through security on Monday, potentially breaking previous travel records. The previous record was just set on Friday when more than 111,500 people were screened in a single day.
Severe storms in Atlanta on Sunday prompted a ground stop. The TSA said the projected number of passengers Monday surged overnight by 15% as everyone was rebooked.
The TSA said they were fully staffed and prepared for the high volume, but the convergence of rebooked passengers from canceled flights and the first weekday of spring break created what some are calling the "perfect storm."
Delays and cancelations continue at Atlanta airport
Delays and cancelations continued at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport early Monday afternoon as a result of storms over the last couple of days.
What they're saying:
Passengers said they were shocked to see the lines Monday.
"I was so confused, I was like maybe it's like a line to somewhere else, but then I saw it was like all the way almost to like the baggage claim," said Milana Salieva.
Salieva was caught in the checkpoint bottleneck. She missed her flight. The next available one, more than seven hours later.
"The whole day will be spent on my phone trying to work," she said.
She was one of thousands of flyers who should have never been in Monday's mess. She was supposed to fly home to San Francisco Sunday night, but her flight got cancelled.
Others were expecting lines, but didn’t realize they would be so bad.
"I thought the line was going to be at least a little shorter, but, you know, this is Hartsfield-Jackson," said Sean ‘The Science Kid’ Atitsogbe.
Social media sensation Sean ‘The Science Kid’ and his mom had to wait in the lengthy line ahead of their flight to boston.
"My mom usually likes to be early, so that we don't miss our flight," he said.