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Transportation Security Administration employees are seen screening passengers carry-on bags at the Albany International Airport on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 in Colonie, N.Y. Albany International Airport.

A sign sharing information about the 3-1-1 rule for carry-ons is seen at the Albany International Airport on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 in Colonie, N.Y. Albany International Airport and the TSA conducted a news conference to discuss travel, TSA checkpoint procedure and prohibited items.

COLONIE - It's starting to feel a lot like 2019 at Albany International Airport as the summer travel season begins.

And that's a good thing for the travel industry and the Capital Region business community as it still is trying to recover from the pandemic.

But it also means that local airline travelers need to be extra patient and prepare even more than they normally would when flying in and out of Albany International this summer, due to shortages of pilots, crews and airplane parts blamed for cancelled flights and delays across the country.

"It's a good news story and a bad news story," said Phil Calderone, CEO of the Albany County Airport Authority. "Air travel has rebounded dramatically."

Indeed, during the depths of the pandemic when air travel was practically non-existent, Albany International became a ghost town with only 100 or so passengers leaving on flights on the worst days.

Compare that to 2019, when the average number of passengers leaving on flights this time of year was 4,700. The next year, when COVID-19 forced a widespread government lockdown of businesses and schools, the average number dropped to about 1,100 people a day.

This year, things are nearly back to normal, with 4,600 people on flights out of Albany now, which means the airport is as busy as it has ever been.

But don't get too excited. Officials with the airport and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration say travelers flying out of Albany International should still get to the TSA checkpoint two hours in advance of their flights in order to make the flying experience as stress-free as possible.

That's because due to the cancellation of flights and delays due to a labor and parts shortage, flights are at more than 90 percent capacity. And more flights than ever are being cancelled, diverted and delayed, causing tempers to easily flare.

And although the TSA lines at Albany International are about as quick as any in the nation, with an average wait time of about 20 minutes, the airport is also a so-called diversionary airport that accepts flights destined to other airports when problems with planes or schedules arise. That can cause extra stress other travelers were not expecting.

And so the airport - and local travelers - have to be prepared for any scenario when departing to visit friends or family or take that long-anticipated vacation delayed for years due to the pandemic.

"That's a concern for all of us in the aviation sector," Calderone said. "We all have to up our game. And the No. 1 recommendation is to get here early, and remember to be kind."

The TSA recently installed new computed tomography luggage scanners at the airport that will likely speed up the security checkpoints because more items can be left in carry-on bags because the scanners, similar to a medical CT scanner, allow TSA officers to view the inside of bags in 3-D versus the 2-D of x-ray scanners.

The busiest times at the checkpoint is from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 4 to 5 p.m. Sundays and Mondays and Thursdays and Fridays are also the busiest days of the week. Masks are encouraged still though not required, mostly to help keep the TSA staff healthy.

Yet still, people are loading inappropriate items like knives and even bats into their carry-on luggage, which is causing the most delays at TSA checkpoints, said Bart Johnson, the TSA's federal security director for upstate New York. These items only cause more delays and increase the stress at the airport. And yet most can just be sent through on checked baggage without an issue.

"It all starts at home," Johnson said.

Larry Rulison has been a reporter for the Albany Times Union since 2005. Larry's reporting for the Times Union has won several awards for business and investigative journalism from the New York State Associated Press Association and the New York News Publishers Association. Contact him at 518-454-5504 or lrulison@timesunion.com.