Busy travel day unfolding smoothly at O'Hare

It may be one of the busiest air travel days of the year, but Chicago's O'Hare International Airport experienced one of its smoothest as well on the day before Thanksgiving.

There were no long lines at check-in locations, security checkpoints or baggage claim as travelers came and went Wednesday morning at the nation's second busiest airport.

“Everything is moving along at a steady pace,” said Karen Pride, a Chicago Aviation Department spokeswoman. “Everything is working just as it should.”

Extra staff brought in for the 189,000 passengers expected to pass through O'Hare Wednesday were often looking for someone to help. United Airlines officials said they expected the same volume of travelers throughout the day.

“My husband thought we were crazy for flying today and we left early just to be sure, but our flight isn't until three o'clock and I don't think we're going to have any problem making it,” said Tiffanie Chalenko, a Michigan woman who was traveling with her friend and children to Portland, Ore., and had arrived at O'Hare at 10 in the morning.

While Wednesday was busy at O'Hare, Pride said Sunday is going to be even busier with 212,000 passengers expected to travel through the airport. Midway Airport was expected to see 70,000 people Wednesday and 74,000 on Sunday.

A feared protest of the Transportation Security Administration's new body scanning and full-body pat down procedures seemingly never materialized as lines at the security checkpoints in Terminal 1 flowed swiftly Wednesday morning. Opponents of the procedures were urging passengers to forgo the full-body scans that provide security personnel with images of anything hidden under clothing and demand the pat down. The pat down process can take minutes, while the scan takes less than 30 seconds, TSA officials have said.

“I stood in the body scan getting here,” Chicago resident Torres Ratcliff said of his Wednesday flight from Atlanta to Chicago. “It was probably the fastest we've ever gotten through security. I didn't even think to care about what it was seeing.”

Chris Anderson said he'd have no problems using the scanner if asked, either.

“You look like a bulky crash test dummy,” he said. “They don't really see you.”

Because only some airports are outfitted with the full-body scanners, some travelers didn't have to deal with the option flying to Chicago. But they are aware it's a possibility they may be selected for the increased scrutiny on their way out.

“It makes me uncomfortable knowing someone's seeing me in the nude,” said Mike Balzer, who flew into O'Hare Wednesday from San Antonio, where the airport doesn't have the scanners. “But it's not enough that I'm going to pick the pat down. That's more uncomfortable.”

Weather was actually a bigger threat, but by late in the afternoon none of the airlines at O'Hare were reporting any major delays or cancellations, according to the city's aviation department.

The mood at O'Hare was even light enough that travelers were joking about the new security procedures and the hype surrounding protests.

“We can't wait to get patted down,” said Tammy Lalone, of Michigan, who was traveling with a friend.

The new security measures were put in place following various failed attempts to blow up planes over the past few years. New York resident Tiffany Fagus said there's been too much hoopla over the new procedures.

“It doesn't make me feel safer,” she said. “Everything they do is reactive.”