By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Delta Air Lines’ Chief Executive Ed Bastian stated Tuesday that passengers should expect to wait in long lines for the United States to lift international travel restrictions on fully vaccinated travellers on Nov. 8.

“It will be somewhat sloppy in the beginning. Bastian spoke at an American travel conference. “I can promise you that lines will exist unfortunately, but we’ll get them sorted out,” Bastian assured.

We’ll have good demand, but we need to make it easy for customers to understand the requirements of documentation.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday signed an order https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa-travel-facts/factbox-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-u-s-international-air-travel-rules-idUSL1N2RM00E imposing new vaccine requirements for most foreign national air travelers and lifting severe travel restrictions on China, India and much of Europe effective Nov. 8.

International travelers will be vaccinated in the same way that they are currently checking COVID-19 results.

Roger Dow, chief executive of U.S.Travel, said that he worried about the readiness of U.S. border officers for the Nov.8 surge.

Dow indicated that Dow believes there may be some hiccups, and added that the industry expects an increase in international travel to be larger than what people think.

Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary, stated at the event that the department was preparing for an increase in domestic and international holiday travel. Mayorkas stated that he believes the department will be well-equipped to deal with what he hopes to see as a surge in holiday traffic.

American Airlines (NASDAQ:), Southwest Airlines (NYSE;), and the White House indicated last week they are not concerned that the Biden administration’s executive order mandating federal contractors receive vaccinations before Dec. 8, will affect holiday travel, or cause employees to leave.

Industry watchers and airlines initially worried about an exodus from unvaccinated employees or airlines involved in travel right before Christmas. However, airlines said later that this would not occur and referenced comments made by the White House.