Thanksgiving travel is cranking up. Will the weather cooperate?
The Thanksgiving holiday rush neared its full stride at U.S. airports Tuesday, putting travelers' patience to the test.
The Transportation Security Administration expected to screen more than 2.8 million people on Tuesday and 2.9 million on Wednesday after handling more than 2.5 million people on Monday.
Things appeared to be going relatively smoothly at most airports, given the big crowds.
By early evening Tuesday on the East Coast, only about 70 U.S. flights had been canceled but more than 3,200 had been delayed. Airlines averaged about 4,500 daily flight delays during the previous three days, according to tracking service FlightAware.
On the ground, there were a couple slow-speed collisions at Boston Logan International Airport. An American Airlines plane pulling into a gate touched wingtips with a parked Frontier Airlines plane on Monday, but no injuries were reported. On Monday night, a tug towing an empty JetBlue plane struck a Cape Air plane, and two Cape Air pilots were taken to a hospital as a precaution, according to an airport spokesperson.
Eyes on the sky
An Arctic blast in the Midwest and wet weather in the Eastern U.S. could disrupt travel over the next several days.
A storm system that moved across the West Coast was forecast to bring heavy snow Wednesday to the Intermountain West, including the Rockies in Colorado, the Bitterroot Range in Idaho and Montana, and the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For Thanksgiving Day, forecasters expect clear weather over the western two-thirds of the country but a mix of rain and snow from Michigan and Ohio through New England.
Temperatures were in the high 30s in Chicago on Tuesday, but that was fine with Kristy Vincent of Houston, who landed at O'Hare Airport.
“I’m so excited. There’s not snow. I’m not going to freeze to death," Vincent said, adding that she was “a little worried" about weekend forecasts calling for highs in the 20s.
Thanksgiving, by the numbers
Auto club and insurance company AAA predicts that nearly 80 million Americans will venture at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday and next Monday. Most of them will travel by car.
Drivers should get a slight break on gas prices. The nationwide average price for gasoline was $3.07 a gallon on Tuesday, down from $3.25 at this time last year.
Airfares, however, are about 4.1% higher than they were a year ago, according to government figures.
The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million people at U.S. airports during the same seven-day stretch. That would be 6% more than during the corresponding days last year but fit a pattern set throughout 2024.
The TSA predicts that 3 million people will pass through airport security checkpoints on Sunday; more than that could break the record of 3.01 million set on the Sunday after the July Fourth holiday. Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to be the next-busiest air travel days of Thanksgiving week.
FAA staffing shortage could create delays
TSA Administrator David Pekoske said his agency is ready, with its highest staffing ever, but an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration could cause flight delays.
FAA Administration Administrator Mike Whitaker said last week that his agency likely will use special measures to deal with shortages at some facilities.
“If we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe,” he said.
In the last two years, similar measures have slowed down flights in New York City and Florida.
The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of controllers that airline officials expect will last for years, despite the agency's lofty hiring goals.
Fury over fees
A Senate panel used the busy travel period to issue a report blasting airlines over what it calls “junk fees,” and announcing that it will call executives from five airlines to explain why they levy those extra charges.
Airline fees have been growing for nearly two decades, starting with extra charges for checking bags and spreading to early boarding and other perks.
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said Tuesday that American, Delta, United, Frontier, and Spirit raised $12.4 billion in fees for better seats between 2018 and 2023. Passengers paid extra to get more legroom or an aisle or window seat.
“As we head into the Thanksgiving weekend, we regret that travelers will be charged millions of dollars in fees that have no basis in cost to the airlines but simply fatten their bottom lines,” said the panel’s chairman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Airlines for America, the leading trade group for big U.S. carriers, dismissed the report as “just another holiday-travel talking point.”
The group said fees give consumers the choice of paying for the services they want and skipping ones they don’t. It said that after accounting for inflation, average U.S. round-trip travel including fees dropped 14% from 2010 to 2023.
Turkey on the plane
TSA says it’s OK to bring turkey, stuffing and other favorite holiday foods through airport checkpoints, although liquids such as gravy and cranberry sauce can’t exceed 3.4 ounces.
Just because you can carry it on the plane doesn’t mean you should.
“Especially when it comes to gravy, I wouldn’t want that in my carry-on luggage, and I definitely wouldn’t want it in my checked baggage,” TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers said.
Thanksgiving brings out infrequent flyers, and they often have questions about what they can bring on the plane. The TSA app and website have lists of items that are banned or restricted.
Drive time
Drivers should know that Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons will be the worst times to travel by car, but it should be smooth sailing on freeways come Thanksgiving Day, according to transportation analytics company INRIX.
On the return home, the best travel times for motorists are before 1 p.m. on Sunday, and before 8 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on Monday, the company said.
In metropolitan areas like Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Washington, “traffic is expected to be more than double what it typically is on a normal day,” INRIX transportation analyst Bob Pishue said.
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Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, Melissa Perez Winder in Chicago and Mike Householder in Romulus, Michigan, contributed to this report.