ATLANTA — As people prepare to mark the unofficial end of summer, the world's busiest airport is preparing to service nearly two million travelers over Labor Day weekend.
Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport leaders want to make travel quick and easy over the holiday.
Jordan Biegler, who helps oversee operations at the airport, said it's a matter of executing a plan that's long been in the works.
"A month or more in advance we have a holiday plan that our emergency management division puts together," Biegler said from the airport Wednesday. "That focuses on the department of aviation, staffing up and looking at those key projected dates and time."
Biegler said the plan will truly be put to the test Thursday - when the Labor Day travel season really begins.
Vickie Thomas is already getting a head start on her holiday plans.
"We figured that the traffic would be really bad on Thursday so in order for us not to be delayed as far as our flight is concerned we decided to come in on Wednesday and beat all the traffic," she said.
Either way, there will be hundreds of thousands of people traveling through Atlanta's gates over the four-day period. Airport officials said they are expecting to see 1.6 million people between Thursday and Tuesday alone. Friday, Sept. 1 is projected to be the busiest day with almost 330,000 passengers.
The Atlanta Police Department is bracing for issues - and the agency says the biggest problem they deal with is luggage.
"When an officer responds to an unattended bag he or she has to first determine who the bag belongs to," APD Mjr. Kelly Collier explained. "If he or she can't then they have to call out a canine officer to make sure that the bag is not something that can harm someone."
Collier said that APD responded to more than 4,000 reports of unattended baggage since the beginning of the year - and it can be a big drain on department resources.
Gun owners are reminded to not bring handguns in carry-on luggage. Officials said there's been a slight increase in these cases so far this year.
To keep travel plans intact, airport leaders recommend arriving earlier and checking for delays. Biegler reminds travelers to be patient and plan ahead as the airport is undergoing renovations, though none should be front-facing to passengers.
View the full media briefing in the video below.