Steam

Due to the expanded security procedures, I see that the Atlanta Hartsfield site is showing 2+ hour security waits at the airport. Has anyone struggled through there yet and sitting in a Crown Room to give an "on-the-ground" report of how things are? I have a flight at 2:30p out of ATL and was thinking that I should probably be leaving now to get to my gate on time!

gpan

You should - the changes to security today probably add 2-3 hours to the security queue.

tonypct

If you get a chance, please give us an update on how security is there today. I just left Atlanta yesterday evening.

jabez

About an hour ago a radio reporter was at hartsfield and reported that the lines extended to outside the building.

lalalala

I had a 7:50 AM flight this morning out of ATL and was checked in a full hour before the flight. The Medallion security line went all the way along the glass separating it from the actual x-ray machines to the exit from the T-gates and then wrapped back and went all the way to past where the ID checkers stand. (Hopefully that tells you how bad it was) The regular security line was much worse. I was able to read the entire newspaper cover to cover while waiting in the line and proceeded to miss my flight by quite a wide margin. The actual terminals were pretty empty but I am unsure if that was because it was Thursday morning or because of these draconian security measures. They had boxes near the security lines where people were to deposit all liquids. This included things as small as a bottle of eye drops and items that were not really liquids (i.e. lotion, make-up, etc.).

Additional note: Do not buy any liquids after going through security (i.e. in the terminal including coffee, coke, etc. They checked for liquids again while boarding the plane and made people throw away drinks, etc.)

jabez

WSB radio st had a Delta rep on the air. The rep said that Delta recommends to be at the airport "no less than 3 hours before your flight".
I'm sure glad I cut a day off my business trip this week and returned yesterday.

Steam

I decided to move forward with my plans although I had to empty out my Dopp kit of toothpaste, shampoo, contact solution and "product" during my packing process. I headed out from my Kennesaw home around 10:45a. Was listening to 750 WSB on the way down and heard that security was all the way out through ground transportation. What a mess. I have seen it bad before but was expecting even worse than that. I got to the airport around 11:30a and parked in the Daily parking, South Terminal. Found a pretty good spot relative to the terminal so things were looking good so far.

Despite being the busiest airport in the country, this time of day is usually slower than normal. Nothing would suggest any different as I checked in at the kiosk. I was offered an earlier flight but because I didn't know how long security was, I stayed with my 2:30p flight, put myself on the upgrade list, printed out my boarding pass and hoped for the best. As I headed toward the security checkpoint, I was crossing my fingers hoping that the Preferred line was still open. I have seen them close it before when there is excessive backups at security. To my surprise, it was still open and relatively few (10+) people waiting. I could see through the clear barriers and noticed that the lines didn't look to bad. Nothing compared to the Monday mornings that I tend to avoid. I got close enough to see the normally long line for the "common folk" almost devoid of any wait as well. Wow. That's odd. It was MAYBE a 60 second wait for the TSA's to check boarding passes and ID's for everyone, not just those in the preferred line.

I got into a security line and was through in about 5 minutes. Amazing. This is even quicker than what I normally run into at this airport. I noticed a few of the TSA's opening up bags and searching through stuff but it probably wasn't any more than normal. So in the end, I got to to the airport around 11:30a, parked the car, printed off my boarding pass, got through security and am sitting in the Listening Zone at A-Centerpoint by noon.

BTW, the 1:10p flight was full upfront and oversold in the back so I'm here for the next 2 hours. I could complain but it's a heck of alot better than standing in a security line for 2 hours.

Steam

He's high. All of them. If you get here 3 hours before your flight, you're going to be sitting around for 2.5 of them at the gate.

Things may get busier as they day goes on but really, it was less busy than what I consider to be "normal".

Pharaoh

Yeah, but you went through the preferred security line.

Steam

I'll clarify my post but even the regular line for "normal folk" was less than 1-2 minutes.

jabez

Steam
It seems something good must have happened since lalalala was there this morning. Or maybe you were just in the "eye" of the Atlanta security hurricane.

gator21

Reading the airport website about the security time wait it shows 10-15 minutes yet the main airport page says to arrive 3 hrs early.

Nice to see the technology is ahead of the printed version.

Steam

Who knows. It was a bit odd compared to what I was expecting however.

baccarat_king

I have a flight on Sunday CVG-LGW,

Now, I know there are NO carry-on items ex-LGW; but how about from CVG ?

Saw the following on MSNBC.com

Passengers traveling to the United Kingdom should contact their airline for information about any extra security measures or precautions that might be required. Laptop computers, mobile phones and iPods are among items banned on British flights.

Does this mean that NO laptops or cell-phones on the CVG-LGW flight also ?

Just need to know if I should prepare to check or ship ahead the laptop.

Thanks !

Marq

Based on reports from local media, I got to DCA 3 hours early. I decided to check my bag (instead of tossing new tube of toothpaste). No line at shuttle check in station. No line at security. Took me 10 minutes from drop off at airport until arrival at CRC (would have been shorter except for idiot trying to get perfume through). Now, I am here way to early.

Marc