CLT expects spike in air travel this Labor Day weekend. Here’s what you need to know
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is gearing up for an influx of passengers over the holiday weekend, after reporting a massive drop in travel numbers due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Over Labor Day weekend, the airport expects to see the largest number of local travelers since mid-March, with 13,000 passengers flying out of CLT on both Friday and Monday. And the airport said passenger numbers now are more than five times larger than April’s tally, during the first full month of the pandemic in North Carolina.
But air traffic is still far below last year’s numbers.
Over Labor Day weekend last year, 32,000 passengers flew out of CLT on Friday and 27,000 flew on Monday.
“Clearly our passenger traffic has diminished, but every week we are seeing steady increases in the number of passengers and flights,” Aviation CEO Brent Cagle said in a statement.
The airport has made many changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including installing hand sanitizing stations and protective shields throughout terminal checkpoints.
The Transportation Security Administration also installed acrylic barriers at CLT checkpoints in mid-August. A total of 33 TSA employees at CLT have tested positive for COVID since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the agency.
The airport received online praise from U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adam on Aug. 21, ahead of the Republican National Convention.
““Shout out to @CLTAirport,” Adams tweeted. “They definitely are promoting public health measures and mask compliance was well over 90%! (definitely made me feel safer than in some other airports I’ve been in).”
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