Summertime travelers are flying the friendly skies in near-record numbers in Jacksonville and beyond as memories of pandemic lockdowns appear to be rapidly fading.
But as numbers rebound after two moribund years of COVID-19 restrictions and fears, travelers face some major issues flying in Florida and beyond these days and those on the ground have their own problems, experts said.
Jacksonville airport officials say this year’s Memorial Day traveler numbers were within 5% of the same weekend in pre-pandemic 2019, making for a very busy time as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes.
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But with a summertime relatively free of pandemic concerns after two years of masks, proof of vaccine mandates and just sheer nervousness about traveling, airport spokesman Michael Stewart said it has been good to see travel numbers rebounding. The airport expects it to be “about the same as 2019,” meaning busy during the July 4 holiday week, he said.
“We will have the same challenges that we faced on Memorial Day weekend,” Stewart said. “Those equate to staffing on several entities: the airlines, TSA, the concessions and those sorts of things. We are ready to handle that, and we expect that if travelers come to the…
