Nov. 27--Charlotte Douglas International Airport is feeling the crunch of lost parking spaces as the airport plows through the busiest travel days of the year, with fliers facing traffic jams and long, slow-moving lines of cars.
Airport officials are urging fliers to leave extra early this year. They're also saying travelers should carpool, take a cab, take the Sprinter bus from uptown or get a ride to Charlotte Douglas to avoid parking.
"There's quite a few cars out on the access roadway," said Assistant Aviation Director Herb Judon. "They're moving slowly, but they're moving."
Judon's advice for travelers: "Get out here a couple of hours in advance."
By early evening Tuesday, cars were backed up from the terminal to Wilkinson Boulevard and Billy Graham Parkway, a distance of a mile or more. On Twitter, motorists complained of delays up to an hour to reach the terminal.
Late Tuesday, officials said multiple traffic accidents on roads leading to the airport caused further backups.
The delays come at a busy time of year for air travel, and one that typically brings out legions of infrequent leisure travelers who often don't know how to navigate airports as well as seasoned frequent fliers. Airport officials said extra staff is on hand at Charlotte Douglas, and the airport has a plan to efficiently fill the long-term parking lots.
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was one of the busiest days of the year last year for Charlotte Douglas, with 24,498 local passengers using the airport. So far this year, passenger traffic is up about 5 percent.
This year, signs point to increased holiday flying. The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday that airline travel will be up 15 percent for the whole Thanksgiving holiday.
And in Charlotte, which is the eighth-busiest U.S. airport by passengers, construction projects have left the airport with fewer parking spaces than in recent years. Charlotte Douglas is down about 4,000 spots because the airport tore down the hourly parking decks in front of the terminal. The new, expanded hourly decks should be open by November of 2014.
Judon said Charlotte Douglas was directing travelers to park in the Long Term 4 lot off Old Dowd Road on Tuesday. The airport's plan is to fill certain long-term lots before opening more, allowing for more efficient use of shuttle buses, Judon said. That's why Long Term lots 1, 2 and 3 were closed Tuesday even though they aren't full to capacity.
"We're still doing the strategic approach," said Judon. "We're gonna fill up Long Term 4 first."
Judon said he doesn't think the airport parking will fill up completely. There is a 400-spot overflow lot prepared in case, but Judon said it probably won't be necessary. The daily and business valet lots were also open Tuesday.
He said extra personnel were at the airport to direct traffic and that additional shuttle buses were driving between the parking lots and the terminal. The airport has also temporarily suspended its curbside valet drop-off service in order to keep traffic flowing.
The construction projects limiting parking were started under former Aviation Director Jerry Orr. He was removed from his city job in July, after the N.C. General Assembly passed a bill transferring control of the airport from the city to a new, independent regional authority. The city has sued to block the law, and the airport remains under the city's control.
Airlines and airports across the nation are also dealing with the effects of a storm that was lashing the Midwest and East Coast with rain and snow Tuesday. The storm was expected to continue into Wednesday.
At Charlotte Douglas, the storm disrupted some flights. By Tuesday night, 19 departing flights had been canceled and 228 delayed, according to FlightStats.com. Other airports, from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Chicago O'Hare to Dallas/Fort Worth, were experiencing similar delays.
One plane, a Southwest Airlines jet, was de-iced early Tuesday at Charlotte Douglas, according to the airport. US Airways, the airport's main carrier, didn't conduct de-icing operations as the temperature stayed above freezing.
Airport officials advised checking with your airline to see if a flight is delayed before heading out for the airport.
Observer staff photographer Todd Sumlin contributed.
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