Busy post-Christmas travel rush begins at MSP airport

Whether drivers are sticking to their pre-planned schedules or altering itineraries, plenty of post-Christmas travelers are anxious to get home. 

Wednesday is predicted to be one of the busiest days ever recorded at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport - second only to the day after the Super Bowl. 

TSA is expecting to screen 45,000 travelers Wednesday compared to the usual daily average of 38,000. 

Pat Hogan, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, says the biggest challenge is the bottleneck often created on the roadway outside of baggage claim at Terminal 1. 

He recommends people picking up loved ones should connect with them curbside outside of the ticketing level instead and vice versa if you are dropping off. 

“The reason is because we are a hub airport,” said Hogan. “Flights go out in banks, so when one is busy - the other is not.”

Meanwhile outside, 100 crew members are watching the forecast and ready to clear the runways of any potential snow and ice.

To get through the rush, TSA is not only at full staff, they also brought in additional employees from outside of the Twin Cities to help with the post-Christmas rush.