Long waits greeted travelers at Lambert Airport Sunday morning. Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge tells KMOX a large convention was trying to leave all at once.
"We know that the Seventh Day Adventist Convention was in town, 70,000 people, which is huge.' Said Hamm-Niebruegge, adding "when they come in, they come in [from] all over the place."
She says some of the attendees of the convention arrived at the airport hours before their afternoon and evening flights, partially causing the congestion.
"We did see a lot of people that had afternoon flights that came out early this morning. So trying to cram that large of an amount [of people] into a small window."
She says the long lines dissipated by around noontime.
Could Lambert's proposed consolidation from two terminals into one have helped? Hamm-Niebruegge doesn't think so.
"When you've got that large concentration and you've got all those people trying to get out at one time... it's going to be a challenge no matter where you're at."