ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando International Airport officials expect 1.1 million people to travel through MCO during the Memorial Day travel period, which runs May 25 through May 31. 

What You Need To Know

  • An estimated 1.1 million passengers are expected to travel through Orlando International Airport during this year's Memorial Day travel period

  • MCO officials say TSA is bringing in extra staff to help manage the crowds

  • Travelers are encouraged to arrive for their flight at least three hours ahead of time

Saturday is expected to be the busiest day of the travel period, with more than 169,000 travelers, which is up about 15% from last year. Experts say Memorial Day is usually the start of summer travel for many Americans, and the airport is expecting higher demand.

AAA estimates this weekend could be the busiest airports have seen since 2005.

Despite the price of airline tickets rising, airport officials say demand for travel out of Orlando International Airport is continuing to grow. Despite the new Terminal C opening, Terminals A and B are still seeing heavy crowds.

“For Terminal C, we had the selection of airlines that we took over there, and it eased the pressure on Terminals A and B, which was great; however, we’ve seen growth in the airlines remaining in A and B and pushing our capacity again to those limits. We’ve got to be more innovative and think how do we solve those problems,” said Marquez Griffin, vice president of airport operations.

Airport officials advise that you arrive at least three hours before your flight, and stay up to date on wait times and parking information on the website or app.

Parking at MCO during the holidays

Airport officials are working on immediate and long-term improvements to help make more parking options available, Griffin said. For the Memorial Day holiday weekend, MCO is opening a West Park Place surface lot, which will provide an additional 3,000-plus spots.

Long term, construction is currently underway to increase the number of surface parking lots, he said. The project is expected to be completed later this year.

Security lines

Airport leaders meet regularly with representatives of the airlines, the Transportation Security Administration and other tenants to ensure they can address problem points.

In recent years, MCO expanded the number of available screening lanes in Terminals A and B, in addition to the upgraded technology installed in the newly opened Terminal C.

TSA is also adding additional workers from other locations during peak travel periods, Griffin said.

“In anticipation of Memorial Day and the summer travel, TSA has supplemental staff they gather from other airports." he said. "They deploy them here to assist with lines and taking care of passengers.” 

Speed through security

Passengers without TSA Pre-Check, which offers expedited screening, can pre-register their screening timeslot using the free MCO Reserve.

MCO Reserve is open from 5 a.m. tp 5 p.m. daily to give passengers without TSA PreCheck or CLEAR the ability to reserve a screening time for security.

Planning a smoother summer

With airlines reporting record booking numbers for the summer travel season, they say they're also facing mounting pressures from regulators and passengers to ensure cancellations and delays are kept to a minimum.

The Biden Administration is proposing mandatory compensation requirements for excessive delays and cancellations that are within airlines’ control. 

"Your time matters, and you should be compensated for that,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Spectrum News.

Airline officials argue that the majority of delays and cancellations are weather-related, and they have made commitments to hire adequate staff with adjusted schedules to ensure limited controllable impacts to the potentially record-breaking summer travel season.