CLT expecting fewer passengers for Memorial Day travel, but airport will still be busy

Jeff Monheit, Gary Brode,

CHARLOTTE, NC – Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer travel season at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Officials expect more than 970,000 passengers to travel through the airport from Thursday, May 22 through Tuesday, May 27.

While that sound like a lot, that is about 9% lower than the same time in 2024.

The busiest days at the airport will be Thursday and Friday.

WCCB talked to a travel expert about why CLT may be seeing fewer passengers this holiday weekend.

Roni Fishkin with Frosch by Chase Travel says CLT passenger numbers may be down this holiday weekend for a variety of reasons including safety concerns after a series of incidents earlier this year and months of economic turmoil.

“It could be that the economic uncertainty of this spring made people pause, and now they feel better and say, or maybe they don’t feel better, but still want to go on vacation,” said Fishkin.

On Thursday, American Airlines Senior Vice President of CLT operations Ralph Lopez Massas, was in Charlotte to talk about the start of Summer travel. He acknowledges the need to win passenger trust back between safety concerns and airline efficiency. Massas said American Airlines is investing a lot this year to improve customer experience and maintains aviation is the safest way to travel.

“Our pilots, our flight attendants, our aviation technicians are just the finest in the industry and at the core of our mission is ensuring that we deliver a safe and reliable experience for our customers, and we rise to that occasion millions of times a year,” explained Massas.

American says it will operate more than 72-thousand flights from CLT this summer and will have a record-breaking schedule to Europe.

Here are some travel tips from CLT:

  • Passengers are strongly encouraged to reserve parking online in advance. Of the Airport’s 25,000 parking spots, 15,000 are available for online booking.
  • Consider alternate routes in case of traffic congestion. Use a navigation app to avoid trouble spots.
  • Plan to reach your parking space thirty minutes before your desired arrival time at the terminal.
  • Be inside the terminal at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight.
  • Review TSA Guidelines – Visit tsa.gov for up-to-date guidance on prohibited items and screening procedures. All concourses and aircraft gates are accessible from any security checkpoint.
  • REAL ID enforcement began May 7. Travelers must have a compliant ID for domestic air travel.