Travel runs smoothly through St. Louis airport Sunday despite higher passenger numbers

ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Passengers moved relatively smoothly through St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Sunday despite it being one of the busiest travel days since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving is typically the busiest of the travel period that starts the Friday prior to the holiday. Airport officials predicted nearly 24,000 people would move through Lambert’s security checkpoints, and traffic was expected to meet or exceed that number as of early afternoon Sunday.

The airport hasn’t seen such numbers since 2019, when about 25,000 went through Lambert security the Sunday after Thanksgiving, according to the federal Transportation Security Administration. The pandemic caused air travel to plummet, and passenger numbers have been ticking back up since.

“We’re really excited traffic is returning to normal,” said Will Becker, a spokesman for the airport.

On Sunday, there were no major weather delays or other disruptions, so passengers moved through the airport much like any other busy travel day, he said.

Passengers who arrived Sunday morning at Lambert said they were relieved their trips went smoothly.

The arrivals area at Terminal 2, which services Southwest Airlines, was busy Sunday morning with passengers awaiting baggage, ride-shares or a pickup. A traffic jam backed up along the arrivals ramp.

But there were only a few people in line at Southwest’s customer service desk, and passengers moved in and out of the terminal relatively quickly. The average departure delay from Lambert was 13 minutes as of early Sunday afternoon, according to the live air traffic tracker Flightradar24.

Ana Johnson, 48, of Town and Country, flew on a Southwest flight into Lambert on Sunday after visiting family in Florida for Thanksgiving. Johnson, her two children and the family Yorki-poo dog arrived on time.

“Everything was very organized,” Johnson said.

Tyren Toliver, 19, arrived Sunday morning on Southwest after visiting family in his hometown of Zachary, Louisiana. He’s a sophomore studying computer data science at Culver-Stockton College in Canton and says he hasn’t traveled much on his own. This year was smoother compared with his Thanksgiving trip last year, when he missed his flight.

“Last year, I did have delays with TSA where it was the longest line ever,” Toliver said. “But this year, things are easier.”

There were only a handful of people at Lambert’s other terminal, which services United Airlines, American Airlines, international flights and other airlines.

Carolyn Coley, 58, of Columbia, flew in on United from Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., after visiting family for the week. Unlike last year when a mechanical problem and a troublesome passenger delayed her flight, this year’s trip was on time and uneventful.

“For all the hype they’ve been saying on TV and in the media, it wasn’t that bad,” Coley said.

The TSA projected more than 200,000 departing passengers would go through security screening at Lambert during the 11-day Thanksgiving travel period that started Nov. 17. That would be about 8% more than last year’s total for the same period and slightly higher than the 198,649 logged in 2019, shortly before the pandemic.

From Friday, Nov. 17 through Saturday, TSA screened nearly 147,000 passengers at Lambert, according to the federal agency. Final numbers for Sunday will be available Monday.

On Sunday, TSA projected 2.9 million passengers nationally.

All types of Thanksgiving travel were projected to increase this year, according to AAA. The auto club predicted 55.4 million Americans would travel at least 50 miles from home between Wednesday and Sunday — 2.3% above last year’s total.

Last year after Christmas, severe winter storms wrecked flight schedules and left Southwest passengers stranded at Lambert and across the country. The airline says it’s better prepared this year with more winter weather equipment, plans to boost staff, and updated scheduling technology.