MKE Mitchell International, passengers prepare for potential winter weather during busy holiday travel season

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Out of the roughly 112.7 million Americans AAA expects will travel 50 miles or more away from home between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, around 7.2 million are expected to fly, a 14% increase compared to 2021.

While travelling during the holidays can already be stressful enough, Mother Nature is making things more exciting with the potential of a winter storm bringing blizzard-like conditions to the region between Wednesday and Saturday.

"We're Milwaukee, so we're ready for the snow," said Stephanie Staudinger, with Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. "Our crews that we have here kind of prepare all season, all year."

Staudinger says the airport is expecting roughly 200,000 passengers between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. Crews at MKE Mitchell International will be working 12-hour shifts in order to help keep the runways clear should winter weather cause issues.

"It's about 20 minutes it takes them to clear one runway," Staudinger explained. "They focus on one runway during the snowstorm or inclement weather, and they want to clear that as fast as possible and get that ready for use. That's their goal; safe and efficient snow removal and as fast as they can, get that runway cleared."

The potential of winter weather impacting travel has some passengers looking at alternatives, including Jarred Jupiter, brother of CBS 58 morning anchor Frankie Jupiter, Jr.

"The first thing that comes to mind is having the idea of my Christmas cancelled," Jupiter said. "The biggest scare is definitely the chances of having to have a flight cancelled."

Jupiter says he has already contacted his airline, and while things are "status quo" for now, he's also looking into the possibility of rescheduling.

"Looking at maybe flying in a day early. Maybe right before the storm. Maybe even two days before my original arrival date was," Jupiter said. "Also looking at the idea of maybe pushing it back a day."

Staudinger says while things are good to go at the airport, it's important for passengers to stay in contact with their airlines for updates regarding any changes made to their flight.

"If there's any delays, if there's any cancellations or if there's any updates to their flights, that will come right from the airlines," Staudinger said. "Even if things are smooth and everything's ready here, that's not always necessarily the case where you're flying to, if there's weather there as well."