Tampa International Airport running smoothly despite Super Bowl exodous

TAMPA -- The citywide exodus of Super Bowl visitors began early this morning at Tampa International Airport, with officials expecting the busiest day in more than a year.

Despite the traffic, there were no big delays at ticket counters or security-screening checkpoints. Airlines began checking in passengers as early as 3 a.m., and the Transportation Security Administration brought in extra officers from Orlando to open all 27 of the airport's screening lanes.

Airport officials estimate about 32,000 passengers will fly out of Tampa through Monday, likely the most since the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2007, said airport executive director Louis Miller.

When Miller arrived at the airport at 4:45 a.m., about 30 travelers had gone to sleep on the floor of the main terminal near a shuttle entrance. He assumed that most of them had come directly from the game and after-parties.

Between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m., sales staff at the Sports Scene airport shop sold $1,400 in championship shirts, hats and other merchandise -- $500 worth in the first 10 minutes, said airport employee Chiquita Newton.

The first rush of passengers began around 6 a.m. The wait to get through security-screening lines at Airside F slowed to 14 minutes at one point, but quickly returned to normal, said TSA local security director Gary Milano.

Officials were expecting a second wave of passengers beginning at 10:30.

Police, some from across the state, led bomb-sniffing dogs through the main terminal. Tampa International's four crews were supplemented by teams from Jacksonville, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Ft. Myers.

Crews hustled to check in a steady stream of rental cars. Some 6,000 cars will be returned to the airport today, followed by another 4,000 Tuesday.

Private jet traffic for the game was below even the expectations tempered by the recession, said Ed Cooley, senior director at the airport. About 250 private jets were parked at the airport at game time, a 40 percent decrease from 430 in 2001. Half of those returned home between midnight and 2 a.m. today.

Many of the airport's passengers adorned Steelers jerseys and Super Bowl hats, some of them tossing footballs, playing cards or reading about their team's win in newspapers to pass the time. Others crowded around kiosks selling pullovers and coffee mugs looking for more gear to tote home.

Super Bowl goodies have "been selling like hotcakes. It's just been mob city," said an airport employee.

Two members of the black-and-yellow horde, Bernie Simons, 44, and Guy Celeste, 43, chatted about their weekend away from Pittsburgh as they waited. The pair and five of their friends rode 20 hours in a recreational vehicle late Thursday to attend the game, stopping only for a Waffle House breakfast and honking about their "six-pack trip'' the whole way.

Simons and Celeste said the Sunday post-game was a crowded mess, as many people waited three hours for a taxi ride from Raymond James Stadium to the airport. This morning went much smoother, they said.

"I figure there are a lot of people with hangovers,'' Celeste said. "They probably missed their flights.''

Drew Harwell and Steve Huettel, Times staff writers

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