Happy Memorial Weekend from the TSA! TWO MILLION travelers battle chaotic airport security lines as some are forced to arrive THREE HOURS before their flight

Passengers have begun lining up in airports across the country as Memorial Day weekend begins - and TSA must deal with record attendance.

More than 38 million Americans are expected to travel between Thursday and Monday, including 2.6 million by plane. 

TSA still lacks staff to face peak traffic over the summer, despite plans to hire more than 700 new screeners by mid-June.

Meanwhile, passengers had to arrive three hours early this morning at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International - and those at Denver International were reported to have to stand in line for 45 minutes, if not more.

Scroll down for video 

More than 38 million Americans are expected to travel this Memorial Day weekend, including 2.6 million by plane. Pictured, passengers wait to get through a TSA checkpoint at Miami International Airport on Thursday

TSA has announced plans to hire 768 new screeners and pay overtime to its existing staff, but still lacks staff to face peak times. Pictured, travelers wait to get through security at Miami International Airport on Thursday

Atlanta and Denver are among the ten busiest airports in the country this Memorial Weekend according to travel website Orbitz.

LAX, Chicago O'Hare and New York John F Kennedy are expected to top the list.

San Francisco, Orlando, McCarran in Las Vegas, Boston Logan and Seattle-Tacoma international airports will also have record passenger traffic.

Passengers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the busiest airport in the country, had to stand into three different lines before they could reach the security screening area this morning, Today reported. 

Those who had obeyed the recommendation to arrive three hours early looked set to make their flights - but things looked less certain for those who had arrived later.

Meanwhile the airport had hired a violinist to play music close to the line in a bid to soothe the passengers' nerves.

Similar scenes were unfolding at Denver International, where travelers were expected to stand in line for 45 minutes on Friday morning, likely longer according to ABC 7's Jason Gruenauer.

Musicians also played to distract the passengers as they waited to get screened and the airport handed out chocolate, Gruenauer tweeted.

Although a message still advised passengers to arrive three hours before their scheduled departure time, live updates on Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International's website indicated wait times between 15 and 30 minutes on Friday morning.

Reported wait times at Dulles International in Washington, DC were even shorter and reached between three and six minutes according to the airport's website.

Denver International also announced lines of 15 to 20 minutes.

Passengers lined up in long queues at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday morning - but were able to go through security rather quickly

The queue started to fill up early at Reagan International in Arlington County, Virginia (pictured on Friday morning) and TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein told passengers on Twitter to arrive early

Reagan International (pictured) was one of many airports where long lines were reported on Friday morning. In Atlanta, passengers had to arrive three hours early to be sure to catch their flight

But lines at Reagan International (pictured on Friday morning) cleared out quickly. The same was true of Sky Harbor Airport, in Phoenix, and of Chicago O'Hare International

Some airports, such as Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International and Denver International, hired musicians to soothe the passengers' nerves. Pictured, a sniffer dog working at Reagan International on Friday morning

The line at Jacksonville International Airport, Florida, was 'pretty packed' on Friday morning, First Coast News's Shelby Danielsen tweeted, but it cleared out rapidly.

Passengers seemed to go through security smoothly at Reagan International in Arlington County, Virginia.

The queue started to fill up early on Friday morning and TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein told passengers on Twitter to arrive early.

She later posted an update saying the lines were moving quickly and shared a couple of shots of TSA sniffer dogs checking luggage for explosives. 

Sky Harbor Airport, in Phoenix, had long lines early in the morning, which kept moving 'pretty quickly' according to Good Morning Arizona's Lina De Florias.

Long lines were seen at terminal 4, 3TV News reported. 

Dozens of passengers also lined up at Chicago O'Hare International but the lines cleared out and the wait times eventually decreased to nine minutes, ABC Radio reporter Ryan Burrow tweeted.

Passenger Craig Belpedio said on Twitter he had gone through security in 30 minutes at the airport, keeping his shoes on and his laptop on his bag. 

Reports of long waits emerged throughout the morning as passengers shared their experiences on Twitter.

'Come on @TSA... even the pre-check line is a mile long @BWI_Airport,' a woman traveling at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport wrote.

One of then made light of the situation at LaGuardia Airport in New York, tweeting: 'As someone with a foot fetish, this long TSA line at LGA airport is basically my Disney Land. #takeoffyourshoes'

The most popular destinations this Memorial Day weekend will be Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Washington, DC, New York, Miami, San Francisco, Boston, Honolulu, Los Angeles and South Padre Island in Texas according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Airplane tickets will be 26 per cent cheaper than last year, with an average price of $165 for round trips. 

Reports of long waits emerged throughout the morning as passengers shared their experiences on Twitter, including this user making light if the situation at LaGuardia Airport in New York

One woman traveling at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport complained about having to wait, tweeting that the security line was 'a mile long'

Passengers at Denver International were bracing themselves to stand at least 45 minutes in line on Friday morning. This passenger tweeted that the lines were already 'backed up' at the time 

Meanwhile at Chicago O'Hare International, one passenger reported it took 37 minutes to get to the end of the line on Friday - and used the hashtag #iHateTheWait, popular among air travelers 

TSA announced earlier this month it would hire 768 screeners and pay overtime to its current staff at a cost of $34 million to handle a summer of record traveling.

The agency's administrator Peter Neffenger said this was a 'good down payment' but said more would be needed to remedy the shortage of screeners. 

'I think this summer is going to continue to be a challenge,' he said at a news conference at Chicago O'Hare last week.

'I think we're doing everything we can to mitigate that from the larger standpoints. I think you'll still see crowds in airports. My goal is to keep you moving.'

An executive for American Airlines told Congress on Thursday that screening delays had caused more than 70,000 customers to miss their flights this year.

The long wait times also led to 40,000 checked bags to be left behind, according to the executive. 

Airlines and airports are spending millions to keep the wait to a minimum this Memorial Day weekend and for the rest of the summer.

'We are concerned for this weekend, where we'll see higher than normal flight loads,' American Airlines spokwesman Ross Feinstein told Bloomberg.

'That will just continue into June and pretty much all the way to September.'

United, Delta and America airlines have each spent up to $4 million to hire extra employees.

They will manage some aspects of security screening, such as tidying up bins and handling the lines, so that TSA officers can focus solely on screening.

 'It's going to help, but the fundamental problem is with the TSA staffing,' president of aviation consultant Aeroecon David Swierenga told Bloomberg.

'When the traffic peaks, you have to have peak staffing to match it. And the TSA doesn't have that.'