Long lines, big crowds expected for holiday travel at Sea-Tac

SEATAC, Wash. -- The holiday rush is on at airport and the TSA predicts Thursday should be the busiest travel day of the Christmas season.

Screeners are expecting to handle more than 60,000 passengers on Thursday alone.

“I’m here early and it looks good,” said Becky Acevedo. “I’m good, I planned ahead.”

The TSA expects record numbers of fliers at airports across the country. Screeners hope travelers like Acevedo do what they can to make going through security easy.

“I printed my boarding pass and I printed my bag tag,” she said.

“It seems to be going pretty good so far,” said Christopher Montiny of Kitsap County. “It took about an hour to get here from Bremerton.”

Some travelers like Montiny used smart phone apps to make their trip through ticketing a breeze.

“For my son I checked him in on my iPhone app we got here,” he said. “We got through the check in line at Alaska in less than 5 minutes.”

Sea-Tac Airport is urging passengers to give themselves plenty of time to get to the airport, and give yourself 2-hours of extra time before your flight leaves.

Friday and Saturday are also expected to be busy with more than 100,000 people anticipated to go through security lines.

The airport compiled a list of suggestions for travelers who might deal with extra-long security lines at its website.