Flying out of Dallas Love Field Airport? Officials say get there 3 hours early

DALLAS – The check-in chaos at Love Field is improving, after a day filled with long lines and delays.

Southwest Airlines blamed a broken baggage screening machine for the problems. Airport officials also said the "extremely high volume of departing passengers checking luggage is causing congestion in the check-in process."

"That screener is back up," the airline said in a statement. "Our team is working to process Customers and their bags as quickly as they can. As always, we recommend Customers at DAL arrive at least two hours in advance of their flight and we thank them for their patience."

"This is crazy," said Brandon Rhodes, who was planning on flying to Las Vegas. "I've never seen nothing like this before."

One traveler told CBS News Texas that she waited in line for more than two hours and she still wasn't all the way through the line.

Some passengers waited in line for more than three hours, causing them to miss their flights and scramble to make other arrangements.

"We arrived two hours early, and as we were in our Uber, we saw the line literally down the street and we looked at each other and said oh no," said Brittney Reed, who was trying to fly home to Phoenix. "We've had some horrible airport experiences but I've never seen a crowd like this in my life."

The baggage screening issue was compounded by the high volume of travelers Thursday. Thousands of visitors were in town for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority convention, where Vice President Kamala Harris was the keynote speaker.

"We have flooded Love Airport as well as the DFW, and we're all headed home," said Alicia Lewis, an AKA member. "So the lines are very long. Pack your patience. But we do everything with a smile."

Love Field officials are recommending departing travelers arrive at the airport three hours before their flight is scheduled to leave on Friday as well.