BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — When lines are long and tempers are short, fliers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport say travel is a trip.
“Everyone looks stressed and they want to get to where they’re going,” said Sarah Daly of Plymouth. “And you’re adding that extra time and frustration. It’s really hard.”
It’s really hard because it’s really busy, with MSP saying it had record crowds in March of more than 40,000 people a day and it hasn’t slowed down since. Now it says the terminal is packed with its usual business travelers and vacationers, forcing even frequent fliers to get here early.
“I wouldn’t say it’s crazy lines,” said Chris Kosiba, who flies every other week. “But I probably get here 30 minutes earlier than I do during the winter months.”
MSP says it’s trying to help, with remodeling projects to manage crowds. There’s a new Delta curbside bag check on the departures roadway. And downstairs a new set of escalators on the terminal’s south side will lead to each of the two checkpoints.
“It’ll direct people to the security checkpoint that they’re going toward and not bring them right to the middle of the terminal where they have to make up their mind,” said MSP Spokesperson John Welbes. “So it’s a little smoother traffic flow to the security checkpoint and that should help.”
And TSA now says it wants more people in its precheck program, saying it may drop the price and offer mobile enrollment. Those already signed up say it’s a faster and easier way to travel.
“TSA Precheck has been a lifesaver for me,” said Kosiba. “It’s saved my butt more than once.”