By Mary O’KEEFE

Holiday travel has always been an adventure, whether there are weather challenges, crowds or, in the case this year, an airline meltdown.

Mike Christensen, spokesman for Hollywood Burbank Airport, has some suggestions to help travelers this season flying out of the local airport:

Check in with your airline regarding updates on flight status, including right before departing to the airport.

Call the parking hotline at (818) 729-2245 to get updates on lot conditions, and call again before departing your home for the airport.

Pick up and drop off passengers at Terminal B – it’s usually less congested.

Use the middle lane to get through the Terminal A traffic crunch.

Arrive at least 90 minutes prior to departure time.

For those who have Southwest Airline (SWA) tickets there is a lot of frustration as it is nearly impossible to reach anyone on the airline customer service/booking phone lines. According to southwest.com, “To help accommodate customers who experience a disruption in service, a system-wide waiver is in place through Jan. 2. Customers holding any Southwest reservation from Sunday, Dec. 25 through Monday, Jan. 2 may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby without paying any additional charge. 

“And unaccompanied minors age 5 through 11 years old will not be accepted for carriage and young travelers 12 through 17 will only be accepted on non-stop flights due to anticipated operational disruptions.”

It is especially difficult for Southwest passengers because several travelers have reported not finding out their flight was canceled until they were in line to board the plane.

For more information on SWA, go to www.southwest.com.