Thousands Of Passengers Board Planes Over Holiday Weekend

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- MSP International Airport played host Sunday to thousands of people traveling to see loved ones for the holidays.

The last few days were some of the busiest during December.

Katie Steiner spent the morning at the airport, where one Delta employee was doing her best to make the busy travel day better for everyone.

On one of the busiest days of the year, Kelly Martin is out front. The Delta passenger service agent is making sure everyone is heading in the right direction.

The airport expected more than 40,000 people to go through the TSA security checkpoint on Sunday, and there's a good chance Kelly will meet a lot of those people.

Kelly works overnights, so she's been on her feet for more than 12 hours.

"We gotta help each other out, get through this busy time of the year," Martin said.

Some people just love traveling over the holidays.

"It's fun. I kind of like when it's really busy like this. I don't know, it's an exciting atmosphere," Britta Swanson said.

John Michael flies every year over Christmas and gets to the airport two hours early.

"During the holidays, I mean even with pre-check, you gotta get here early. Even at 7:00 this morning, the lines were full," he said.

Those full lines are where Kelly shines.

"It keeps you busy, keeps you hopping. The day goes by fast. It's just exciting," Martin said. "Everybody's going somewhere fun."

And if you ask her, the day before Christmas Eve is her favorite day of the year.

Monday and Christmas Day are expected to be slow, and then things will pick back up again on Dec. 26.