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TSA Releases Travel Tips In Time For Busy Memorial Day Weekend

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With millions expected to fly this holiday weekend, the Transportation Security Administration is looking to get travelers through the airport quicker.

The TSA revealed their top travel tips Thursday as AAA predicts 2.6 million Americans will take to the skies this Memorial Day weekend.

During a press conference at LaGuardia Airport, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein reminded travelers to arrive early, pack light and leave the brass knuckles at home.

"You would actually be pretty surprised. I'd say at the New York airports, we see maybe three or four sets of brass knuckles a day," Farbstein said.

Travelers are being urged to arrive two hours early for a domestic flight and three hours early for international flights.

"Just like if they're preparing to drive down to the shore, plan for it," Farbstein said.

Many flyers at the airport already seemed to know the drill.

"It's New York, so that's why I was like, 'OK, I better get my butt in there, get going,'" said Shannon Alexander, who arrived for her flight two hours ahead of its scheduled departure time.

The agency is grappling with screener shortages that it hopes to rectify by June, when hundreds more full-time security screeners are expected to be added, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.

"We have been able to reprogram funds, Congress has given us permission to do that, and we have been able to use those funds to convert part-time officers to full-time officers," Farbstein said.

For the first five months of this year, the TSA has screened 449 million travelers, up 12 percent compared to last year, with 5,800 fewer screeners than 2011.

In the meantime, carriers are stepping in.

Delta said it spent more than $4 million on extra employees this summer to help move travelers through the lines.

"We can sit back in a room and point fingers, but at Delta, we say we're going to collaborate. If we've got to spend a few million dollars to help and support to get our customers through the airport, we're definitely going to do that," Delta Vice President Henry Kuykendall said.

Long lines have been plaguing airports since early spring, but the issue came to a head in recent weeks when thousands of passengers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport missed flights because of lengthy checkpoint waits.

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