US set for one of busiest travel periods on record for Thanksgiving holiday

Travel organisation AAA predicts up to 80 million people will hit motorways and skies

Passengers arrive at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on November 22 before the Thanksgiving holiday. AFP

Millions are taking to the motorways and the skies for the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, possibly making for a record travel period this year.

Travel group AAA predicts nearly 80 million people will venture at least 80km from home between November 26 and December 2. About 1.7 million more people will travel this year, compared to a similar period in 2023.

Another round of wintry weather could complicate travel leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, according to forecasts across the country, while California and Washington state continue to recover from storm damage and power cuts.

AAA projects a record 71.7 million people will embark on road trips across the country, a 1.3 million increase from last year.

Falling oil prices may help push the national average petrol price below $3 a gallon for the first time since 2021.

The Transport Security Agency says it expects to screen 18.2 million people from Tuesday to next Monday.

“This holiday season is expected to be one of the busiest travel periods on record,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement this month.

Travellers at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on November 22. AFP

A shortage of air-traffic controllers could cause flight delays at some airports, AP reported.

“As we approach Thanksgiving, TSA is ready to accommodate record passenger volumes,” said the agency's administrator David Pekoske. “The 10 busiest travel days in TSA’s history have all occurred in 2024, and we anticipate that trend to continue.”

The country's largest city, New York, will also see a record influx of travellers this Thanksgiving holiday, Bloomberg reported, with congestion at the region’s airports and vehicle crossings creating longer waits and heavy traffic.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is expecting 8.7 million people to use its airports, bridges and tunnels from November 25 to December 2, making it a record for the Thanksgiving travel period, the agency said last week.

Meanwhile, workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport began what was expected to be a 24-hour strike on Monday over their demands for higher wages. Only a handful of flights were cancelled, and there were fewer than 100 delays.

Nearly 2.3 million people are expected to travel by other modes of transport including buses, a 9 per cent increase from 2023 and an 18 per cent jump from 2019, according to the AAA.

Rail operator Amtrak said it carried more than 1 million customers from November 18 to November 26 in 2023 and is expecting more than that this year, a representative said.