The Indianapolis International Airport doesn’t expect any impact from the government shutdown during this year’s busy fall break travel period, the airport’s senior public affairs director said. The period spans from Oct. 6 to Oct. 24.
Public affairs director Megan Carrico said she expects record-breaking numbers this fall break: about 20,000 people will travel through the airport each day of the fall break period. She estimates over 400,000 people total will fly from the airport in the next three weeks.
To prepare for bigger crowds, airlines have increased seat capacity 6 percent above last year. Carrico expects Oct. 9 to be the highest seat capacity day of the fall break period, with about 23,500 people scheduled to depart from the airport.
“Seat capacity can be increased when an airline [does] what's called upgauging an aircraft,” she said. “So, they might be going from a smaller aircraft to a larger aircraft between two destinations, and so that's where we can get more seats. Or an airline can also add frequency. So, say they only have one flight a day to Orlando, maybe they have two flights a day now.”
To accommodate bigger crowds, Carrico said more staff will be on site. On the airport’s busiest days – Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays – TSA checkpoints will open earlier at 3 a.m. Restaurants and retailers will also have extended hours. Carrico recommended people arrive two hours before their flight departs, and have a form of identification that is Real ID compliant.
“Give yourself enough time to go through all steps of the travel process and get to your gate without having that worry or that rush, especially as lines are going to be longer,” she said.
Popular destinations this year include Orlando, Tampa, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
