PASCO, Wash. – Cyber Monday is here, but people are also returning home from the holiday weekend. According to Airport Director Buck Taft, the Tri-Cities Airport expected a busy stretch but saw more people this year than they did last year.
Thanksgiving is the start of the holiday travel season. Taft said the airport averaged more than 400 passengers daily this year compared to last year. He said the airport did experience delays and cancellations because of the fog. Taft said this is normal for this time of year because the weather is colder, and they see fog roll in.
Taft thought the airport would be busier, but not to this extent.
According to Taft, the biggest issue the airport saw was parking.
“Luckily, we were able to utilize every spot as much as we can,” said Taft. “We had some alternatives parking in the cell phone lot. We have a facility by FedEx and we also have some grass open land that we were like well, we may have to be out there. We didn’t have to utilize that. We were able to get everyone in a parking spot, and it worked out for us.”
Taft said if the airport sees an issue going forward, it will be with parking. Taft said Thanksgiving stressed the airport but also helped staff prepare for what to come next.
According to Taft, with Thanksgiving now out of the way, it’s time to prepare for Christmas and New Year’s. He said the airport is putting plans in place to deal with the parking challenges they witnessed at Thanksgiving.
