SEATTLE — Long lines at Sea-Tac International Airport Monday marked the busiest travel weekend since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is absolutely craziness. I mean, why did they even take our luggage if they know this is what’s going to be happening. Is this normal?” asked Veronica Murira, who was traveling back to Dallas from Seattle.
Spring break plans plus more passengers getting vaccinated combined for the most travelers at Sea-Tac Airport in more than a year.
“I haven’t seen a crowd like this since before the pandemic,” added AnneLise Botting of Georgia. “Atlanta is one of the busiest airports, right? It wasn’t this bad,” she continued.
While the snaking lines seemed long, Sea-Tac spokesperson Perry Cooper noted all of the empty space between passengers. The airport is only using every other later to help keep a safe social distance between travelers.
“That means the lines fill up that much faster," said Cooper. "Even though we’re not at normal capacity, our lines are much longer. We’ve seen today, in particular, those lines have gone across our skybridges and into our garages."
TSA numbers show last year around this time, nationwide travel was down some 95%. While numbers are starting to rebound, travel at Sea-Tac remains down 35% from this same season in a pre-pandemic 2019.