'Season' Kicks Southwest Florida International Airport's Flight Schedule into High Gear

'Season' Kicks Airport's Flight Schedule into High
Gear
Naples Daily News, FL

February 13, 2004

Oh, what a difference a day makes. 

Passenger traffic at Southwest Florida International
Airport increased an estimated 35 percent from
Wednesday to Thursday as the tourist season kicked
into high gear, an official with the Transportation
Security Administration said. 

"Today is the day when many of our airlines here at
Southwest International Airport have changed their
schedules," said Douglas Perkins, federal security
director for the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA), which oversees security at
Southwest International. "They've added flights.
They've put on larger aircraft, and that is going to
result in about a 35 to 40 percent increase in the
number of passengers going in and out of this airport
at a time when TSA staffing is very tight. It will
cause some challenges for the travelers here." 

Speaking to reporters outside the TSA office at the
airport next to the passenger checkpoint, he repeated
his recommendation for travelers to arrive at least
two hours before their scheduled departure time. 

"Our real goal is to get people in line at the
checkpoint about an hour before their flight," he
said. "Obviously, if they get here two hours early,
that will give them plenty of time to do that. If
people are dropping passengers off, obviously that
will save time. They won't need to park." 

Getting to the airport at least two hours early will
eliminate the possibility of passengers missing their
flights or their luggage not making it onto their
flights, he said. 

"If they get here early, that's just not going to
happen," he said. 

Perkins noted that the parking lots are filling up. 

"You probably had trouble finding a spot. Short-term
is full, and (traffic) is starting to spill into other
lots," he said. 

People trying to park in short-term parking Thursday
often were driving around in circles as they searched
for an open space. Many cars were parking in a grassy
area. 

Laska Ryan, spokeswoman for the Lee County Port
Authority, said the airport has no special plan to
open up new parking. In December, the Lee County
Sports Complex is opened to travelers, who are bused
to the airport. She said that isn't in the works now,
nor are there any immediate plans to open up the Paul
J. Doherty Parkway to parking as was done during the
Thanksgiving holiday. 

Ryan said the parking lots were full Thursday but not
at capacity, so they will be monitored to see if any
contingency plans need to be addressed. 

Perkins said that prior to Thursday, an average of
10,000 to 11,000 passengers departed daily. Starting
Thursday, the number is expected to grow to between
14,000 and 16,000, he said. 

Adding to this passenger jump, he said, is an upcoming
three-day weekend with Valentine's Day on Saturday and
President's Day on Monday, along with the ACE Classic
golf tournament in Naples. 

"Airlines have added additional flights this weekend
in addition to what they'll have later in the season,"
he said. 

Perkins said his agency wasn't able to hire all of the
full-time screeners he was hoping would be on staff by
this month, so part-time workers are being given more
hours. Some part-timers are being brought in from
airports that have more screeners than they need. 

"We are trying to hire more people. They have
postponed our testing for the new applicants, and that
hiring process won't happen until March. So we were
really disappointed they weren't on our payroll and
trained and ready to go on time for today," Perkins
said. 

Perkins outlined several steps passengers can take to
can get through screening and make the lines move
faster. 

He said it might be wise to avoid bringing certain
items that explosive-detection systems have a hard
time seeing through and as a result will often trigger
alarms. Among them: honey or peanut butter in jars;
magazines or books that are stacked on top of each
other; sea shells and thick glass jars or crystal. 

TSA is encouraging passengers to use curbside
check-in, he said. 

"It's actually a little more efficient for us. It
eliminates congestion in the lobby; generally those
lines are shorter than the ones on the inside (of the
terminal)," he said. 

Perkins also encouraged online check-in. 

"Almost all our airlines today have online check-in.
You could check in for your flight at home on your
computer and avoid almost all of the lines down there
(at the ticket counter), especially if you don't have
checked bags," he said. 

Perkins also pointed out that the airport now has
kiosk machines that allow automated check-in. 

"If people aren't familiar with them, they (airline
companies) will have ticket counter personnel help
them at check-in. We're encouraging everyone to try
the machines. When everyone gets good at it, this
(check-in) will really be an expedited process," he
said. 

Passengers arriving at the checkpoint area of the
airport need to remember to have their boarding passes
and government-issued photo identification, Perkins
said. 

"Make sure you bring no more than one bag and one
personal item with you to the checkpoint. We will be
strictly enforcing the one-bag, one-personal-item
rule," he said. 

Perkins offered these other tips: 

— Passengers should place all metal objects in their
carry-on bags. 

— Take laptop computers out of the case before going
through the metal detectors. 

— Take off overcoats and jackets. 

— Eat before going through the checkpoint or have some
food ready to eat once in the concourse. 

"What happens is people go inside (the concourse) and
find out we don't have any food and they come back out
and stand back in line. We have to screen them a
second time. It creates an additional workload on our
part," he said. 

He said not everyone is being asked to take off their
shoes before going through the detectors. People
wearing shoes with thick soles or metal, like hiking
boots or high heels, should take them off and expect
this to add five minutes to the screening process, he
said. 

Tennis or running shoes are good traveling shoes that
often don't need to be screened. 

"If you have good traveling shoes that do not have big
soles, they don't have metal in them — my personal
recommendation is that you leave them on," he said. 
 
      

 

 
  
 
 
  
 


 
  
  
 






 




 


 

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