Super Bowl Monday at Phoenix airport did an 'excellent job' preparing

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport braced for masses of football and golf fans on Monday, Feb. 13, as both Super Bowl 57 and the WM Phoenix Open golf tournament in Scottsdale came to a close.

A Monday morning visit to Sky Harbor showed operations flowing smoothly despite the mad rush of people, which at one point caused a security line to snake past the Johnston & Murphy store on the concourse in Terminal 4.

Sky Harbor anticipated about 180,000 passengers on Monday, about 60,000 more than an average day and about 5,000 more than the day after the 2015 Super Bowl, the most recently held in Arizona before this year. Airport staff said they were prepared to handle the crowds, citing new amenities like the PHX Sky Train's extension to the Rental Car Center.

Here's what the Phoenix airport looked like on the Monday morning after Super Bowl 57.

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Roads to the Phoenix airport terminals were clogged

All lanes of traffic on Sky Harbor Boulevard leading to Terminals 3 and 4 slowed to a crawl on Monday morning.

The congestion was primarily long lines of cars waiting to drop passengers off. Drivers heading into the terminal garages had an easy time finding parking spots once out of the flow of traffic.

Drivers who are dropping passengers off are encouraged to avoid this logjam by taking them to the PHX Sky Train stations at 44th and Washington streets or 24th Street instead. Passengers who are dropped off at either station can ride the free Sky Train to their terminal.

Here's how to ride the Sky Train to the terminals.

Long lines for general TSA screening

In Terminal 4, the TSA security checkpoints A and C were open for regular screening on Monday. The B and D checkpoints were for TSA PreCheck passengers.

The PreCheck lines had little wait. The regular checkpoints had long waits at times — around 8:45 a.m., the line stretched past the concourse storefronts as far as Johnston & Murphy — but by 10 a.m. the lines appeared to ease.

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Phoenix airport beefed up staffing for Super Bowl Monday

Sky Harbor staff worked with airlines, the Transportation Security Administration, the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, law enforcement and others to prepare for the postgame rush. They added more customer service staff and TSA screeners, as well as Navigator volunteers to answer travelers' questions about the airport.

American Airlines, which added more than 100 flights between Phoenix and 23 cities including Kansas City and Philadelphia in anticipation of the Super Bowl and WM Phoenix Open, had agents at its ticketing counters to handle the lines of flyers waiting to check bags and print boarding passes. The airline also had attendants in red shirts guiding passengers to check-in areas.

Phoenix Open golfer Max Homa praised Sky Harbor on Monday

Max Homa, a professional golfer who was in Scottsdale for the Phoenix Open, was among those who praised Sky Harbor's preparations.

"Wow. Shoutout Phoenix sky harbor airport. Absolute clinic. They were prepared, had a great game plan, and executed. My punishment for doubting u guys is I’m now here at my gate far too early. A great problem to have because now I am in an elite place to people watch," he tweeted.

Flyers liked the early bag-check service

Passengers also appreciated the early bag check service that was offered on Feb. 12 and 13 for those flying American, Southwest, Delta and United Airlines.

Emanuel Dace, a Kansas City Chiefs fan who rooted for the Super Bowl champions from a seat at State Farm Stadium, checked his luggage at the Rental Car Center after dropping off his car. His experience at the airport was overall positive, he said, but the early bag check stood out.

"They did an excellent job preparing for this, how when you return the rental car you could check in a bag. Good thinking," Dace said.

Early bag check will remain available through 6 p.m. Monday at the Rental Car Center.

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Reach the reporter at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salerno_phx.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Super Bowl Monday at Phoenix airport: What passengers had to say