LAX bracing for rush of holiday travelers

With a week until Christmas day, local airports are bracing for the usual rush of travelers hitting the skies for the holiday season. For the first time in a long time, they expect to see the amount of fliers nearly surpass those of pre-pandemic years. 

Officials at Los Angeles International Airport prepared for the worst, staffing extra employees to help support the more than 200,000 travelers they expected to see daily through New Year's Day. 

While police officers work to assist with traffic backups around the airport, carolers will be wandering the terminals to brighten the mood with holiday songs. 

"Drivers should plan their parking right now, for garages will be quite full — this we will vow," LAX said in a jingle-like statement, full of rhymes and Christmas puns. "So, arrive early this holiday season and be nice," they said, before offering more advice. 

They estimated to see around 89,000 vehicles a day to transport those to and from the nation's second-busiest airport, a 12% increase over what they said on a normal day. 

"LAX wishes our guests, employees and partners a very happy holiday season as we create a smooth and enjoyable travel experience," said Los Angeles World Airports CEO Justin Erbacci. "We ask that you come to the airport prepared by planning your parking ahead of time and arriving early, especially if you are traveling with us on one of our peak days."

Those peak days are projected to be Dec. 18, 19, 23 and Jan. 2, with up to 215,000 people expected to travel through the airport on any of those given dates. 

Officials suggested that fliers prebook parking spots at the airport to avoid any sort of fiasco, as that is the only way people are guaranteed a spot.