Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Memorial Day weekend is fast approaching and so are the summer vacation plans of many Western New Yorkers. The TSA is ready for the summer travel season and is anticipating a record-breaking volume of travelers arriving and departing at Buffalo Niagara International and across the nation.
"Travel has already picked up," said Bart Johnson , TSA's Federal Security Director for 13 airports in Upstate New York. "TSA, throughout the whole system, saw 2.6 million passengers come through all the airports in the United States, which is a record. Those records are going to continue to be broken and Buffalo is no different."
TSA officers across the country in the first quarter of 2023 have screened more than 191 million passengers at security checkpoints, an increase of 20.4% compared to last year.
TSA is once again reminding travelers what to bring and what not to bring to the airport so travelers can spend less time in the TSA line.
"As you're getting ready to go, make sure you have your driver's license and your passport with you. Pack appropriately, make sure that you start with an empty bag. We don't want you bringing anything into the checkpoint into the sterile area, like a gun, a knife, brass knuckles, explosives," says Johnson. "Unfortunately, we've now had 23 handguns seized in upstate New York and that's simply inexcusable, that a pistol permit holder actually doesn't know where their weapon is, and they bring it to the checkpoint."
As always, remember the 3-1-1 rule when it comes to liquids. Have liquids, gels, aerosols, creams and pastes that do not exceed 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters and make sure you can fit them in a quart-sized bag.
If you have any questions regarding what you can or can not bring, you can use the What Can I Bring? feature on the TSA website or download the myTSA app. You can also tweet it at @AskTSA.
NFTA's Aviation Director Lee Weitz added that the airport is nearing pre-pandemic traffic levels and currently, numbers on the morning side are well above where 2019 traffic numbers were.
Weitz commented on airline staffing, a problem that was greatly prevalent last year within airlines like Southwest that caused extensive flight cuts and cancellations.
"They're (airlines) still aggressively trying to hire people to get up to full staff. There was some severe shortages right after we came out of COVID. but they're doing much better now. We should have a good summer season going forward."
