ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Millions of people will be traveling to see family and friends this coming holiday season, whether it is by plane, train or automobile.
For the Liberal Municipal Airport, last year’s holiday season saw a large influx of travelers.
“We had really, really good numbers last year, and we hope to see that trend continue this year for the holidays. In fact, for 2025 so far, we've been doing really well and have even set some records, which we're really proud of,” Liberal Municipal Airport Manager Brian Fornwalt said. “In May alone, we had more than 1,000 travelers fly out of Liberal for the first time ever. 2025 has been a great year so far, so hopefully the holiday crowds will help keep that going. During the holidays, we do typically see a pretty significant increase, and we do get pretty busy since that's when everyone's doing some extra traveling. All the numbers we've seen this year are just a part of the reason we're looking at expanding the parking lot, because we do get pretty full. All of that starts in October, really picks up for Thanksgiving and Christmas and then tapers off around New Year's or so, and the Thanksgiving and Christmas travel are about the same.”
For this year, Fornwalt said, staff is somewhat unsure what to expect, but is optimistic about traveler turnout.
“With the reservations, we don't actually know that yet because we don't get the numbers from the airline until a day or two before the flight, so we won't know anything official until next week,” Fornwalt said. “And especially with the federal government shutdown having happened, we don't know what the impacts of that will be – I know things did just recently reopen, so hopefully that helps ease people's minds about flying. With Liberal Municipal Airport, we didn't really encounter as many of the issues compared to airports in the bigger cities, and we didn't really feel as much of an impact as those bigger airports, which I think helped keep people wanting to fly out of Liberal.”
For those preparing to fly out of Liberal, Fornwalt said travelers should take some simple precautions.
“Basically, just make sure you have everything on hand and ready to go. If you're doing any international traveling, make sure you have your passport and all of those documents ready. If you're traveling domestically, you don't have to have the Real ID, but it does help, and make sure you have all of that on hand and ready to go,” Fornwalt said. “We also recommend customers get here at least an hour before their flight so they can get checked in and all of that, and I always recommend having everything out and ready to go like your ticket, driver's license, passport, etc. so you can get in and have everything go smoothly. Drinks aren't allowed through security, but there is a vending machine available for people who want to get something beforehand. I also recommend looking at the TSA Web site if you need a bit of extra guidance on what can/can't be brought onto the plane, because there's a lot of good and updated information there. We're not a big airport compared to Wichita or Chicago or New York, but we do have pretty good crowds this time of year, so we do encourage people to get here early because one person being late causes everyone else to ultimately be late. Also, the ticket counter closes 30 minutes before the flight, so if you're not here for the flight you want, you'll get bumped to the next one. The times we have are when the plane is supposed to be on the runway and taking off, so it's better to get here early.”
For those preparing their Christmas travel, Fornwalt said it is better to make those arrangements early.
“I've said this before, but like anything else, it's good to get everything done ahead of time so you KNOW everything is reserved and ready to go and everything else. It's never fun scrambling at the last minute for that stuff, so if you know what date(s) you're going to be flying, go ahead and get your tickets and everything else so that anxiety isn't weighing on you,” Fornwalt said. “Also, prices change when it's closer to the holiday, so make sure you're reserving at a time when you can get the best deal(s). If anyone has any questions or anything, they can also call the airport at (620) 626-0188, and we'll help you however we can.”
Overall, Fornwalt said, he and the rest of the airport’s staff should remain busy in the coming weeks.
“We hope everyone stays safe over the holidays while having a good time wherever they happen to be traveling to,” Fornwalt said. “Our staff here at the airport is ready to go and ready to help all the travelers planning on coming through, and if everyone will exercise some grace and patience as they're going through security and everything else, that will also be a big help.”
