04-16-2024
03:50 PM
04-16-2024
03:50 PM
In comparison to those comments regarding "Austin, TX check-in and boarding on Thursday, 11 April, 2024" I'd like to relay my comments regarding "Austin, TX check-in and boarding on WEDNESDAY, 10 APRIL, 2024." My wife and I were amongst the crowd of twelve million, three hundred and forty-five thousand, six hundred and seventy-eight plus two passengers (seemingly more and not likely less) that attempted to fly out of Austin on that day. Based on the apparel and souvenirs that many carried, it was obvious that many had been in the area for the eclipse as well as other reasons to travel. Without any prior warnings, we arrived at the airport just after 2:00 pm expecting that we had arrived early enough to check our bags and pass through TSA to make our 5:05 flight to Chicago-MDW. It became apparent to us that this might be the possible "GIANT" situation described by "vgivanovic" as soon as we were told to join the end of the line of Southwest passengers wanting to check bags. That line stretched outside the terminal from one end to well past the other end of the building. After moving along in this triple-wide line at a snail's pace for well over an hour, a few airport employees appeared offering water and snacks but very little information to share with us. It was just past 4:30 pm when we finally entered the terminal and saw that there was another "herd" of passengers in multiple lines snaking back and forth towards the opposite end where the Southwest ticket and baggage check-in counters are located. A Southwest employee came by at 5:10 asking those in line whether we had missed our flights while my wife was on her phone with Southwest Customer Service to get us re-booked on the 9;05 flight to Chicago-MDW A few minutes later we had updated boarding passes but were told to continue staying in line. Eventually I told an airport employee walking by that we had been re-booked on a later flight and she directed us to move over to the mush shorter line at baggage check-in. After all that time standing in lines, the TSA line seemed to be a "welcome breeze" and finally were able to sit down for a quick meal around 6:30. I'm guessing that the Airport and Southwest employees learned how to better deal with the chaotic situation they had on Wednesday so that it wasn't repeated on the next day as reported by "vgivanovic". Passengers could have been told of the baggage problem and encouraged to arrive three or more hours prior to their departure times; Airport and Southwest employees could have coordinated and communicated their efforts better and should have kept passengers informed with realistic waiting times.
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