Roads, skies in Georgia expected to be busy for Labor Day weekend

ATLANTA - If you're not a fan of long lines, traffic and crowded airports, you may just want to stay home this Labor Day weekend.

The FAA believes this Labor Day will be the third-busiest weekend for air travel so far this year. Fourteen million people are expected to fly between today and Wednesday.

The Transportation Security Administration says the number of expected Labor Day weekend airline passengers is up about 11 percent from this weekend last year. The busiest day was expected to be Friday, September 1, with about 2.7 million passengers at checkpoints nationwide.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, an airport spokesperson says about 1.7 million people may pass through the airport during the extended weekend. 330,000 of them were projected on Friday alone, all heading to different destinations.

"We're going to Philly and then going to the US open in New York," said Marysa Nesmitch, a traveler at Hartsfield-Jackson.

Another passenger, Maurice Harbin, was traveling with his daughter to Kansas. "To Kansas state, to see our son and brother play football."

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Travel numbers are reaching all-time highs. So far this year, the TSA says it has screened 17.6 million passengers at Atlanta's airport.

The busy weekend marks the unofficial end to summer, which TSA reports was the busiest summer, (from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend), for airline travel on record.

Airport officials say passengers should expect a 30-minute wait at standard security checkpoints and 10 minutes for those with TSA Pre-check.

We asked people about their wait times, the crowds and more.  "Frustrating, aggravating, it's cool. It is what it is," said one man Fox 5 spoke with.

If you do plan to fly this Labor Day weekend, you should arrive to the airport at least two hours early. You can also check TSA wait times online. 

On the roads, AAA also says that travel is up this year with international bookings up 44%. AAA says it expects to rescue about 300,000 motorists from flat tires, dead batteries and other bumps in their roundtrips.

"Last year we projected over 250,000. This year we're projecting 300,000," said Montrae Waiters, a AAA spokesperson.

Waiters says rush hour was the worst time to hit the road Friday. 

"You should have left already. We tell you it's either early morning or late in the evening," they said.

If you do plan to drive, don't forget that Georgia State Patrol troopers will be out in force. They will be patrolling Georgia highways for 78 hours, starting this evening and ending Monday night. THey will be looking for impaired and distracted drivers, speeders, and people not wearing seatbelts.

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One silver lining though, prices at the pump seem to be on pause. The average cost for a gallon of gas is $3.82. That's down a penny from last week.