Austin airport struggles with long TSA wait times, fuel shortage

Austin-Bergstrom International says they don't have enough fuel for planes

This comes after an event-filled weekend across Austin and massive crowds Monday morning that formed long lines wrapped around the building.

AUSTIN, Texas - A sea of people flooded the inside of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Monday morning. Lines for TSA checkpoints even extended outside and wrapped around part of the building.

"There were so many people just waiting and that zero idea of how long it was going to take," said Joey Dillon who was looking to fly home to Ohio.

Dillon was on his way to the airport around 7 a.m. to return his car rental and fly home when he noticed right away things were off. The line to return rentals extended out into the street, away from the drop-off zone and no cars what moved.

"This was apocalyptic, I joke about it, but it was unheard of it was crazy."

He noticed several people got out of their rentals, grabbed their bags, and walked to the airport.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport says there was a fuel shortage for planes Monday

The airport said the fuel shortage is linked to the high number of planes going in and out of the airport. They are asking flights to fill up before heading to Austin because refueling may become difficult.

Eventually Dillon said an airport employee walked over to him and told him to go catch his flight.

"She asked me what rental company I used, she then wrote Hertz on my window and basically sent me on my way."

When Dillon made his way to the airport he noticed another problem.

"I saw a very long line out the door, and I got real worried."

Long lines extended out of the building just for TSA screenings.

"You can feel the stress from some people especially towards the back of those lines," said Dillon. "I thought I gave myself ample amount of time to kind of handle everything, and fortunately I did, but I barely did and that’s only because of TSA pre-check."

While he made his flight, Dillon worried about those who weren’t as fortunate.

According to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport: TSA processed more than 8,000 passengers before 8 a.m. Monday.

The airport attributed the high number of passengers due to all the significant events, like NASCAR, the Dell matchplay golf tournament, and Texas relays all ending this past weekend.

They put out this statement which reads:

"In response to the strong demand for air travel. AUS continues to expedite terminal improvements through the airport expansion and development program and through working alongside our partners, like the TSA and airlines, to increase staff levels."

During the mess on Monday the airport also announced a fuel shortage for planes. ABIA told FOX 7 Austin the shortage is linked to the increase number of flights heading in and out of the airport this week and their fuel reserves are not able to keep up with the demand.

In the meantime they were asking planes to fill up with fuel before coming to Austin.

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