HOUSTON – The Super Bowl is bringing a whole new level of traffic to Houston.
Approximately 1,600 extra planes are expected to occupy Houston's airspace during Super Bowl weekend.
"This is our Super Bowl and we're definitely going to win this thing," said Clay Matheny, of Houston TRACON or Terminal Approach Radar Control, the FAA facilities responsible for separating and delivering planes safely to our airports.
Nearly double the usual number of flight controllers are on duty this weekend in Houston.
While most of the Super Bowl air traffic actually goes through Hobby Airport, the added traffic at IAH is expected to catapult the "big" airport from one of the nation's 10 busiest airports to one of three busiest.
Houston's air-traffic controllers started planning for this weekend about a year ago.
"During the training for this process, I told them this will be the busiest traffic that some of you will ever see in your careers," said Jason Hubbard, a TRACON manager.