The US Department of Transportation report states that the Sunday of the Thanksgiving holiday set a record for the busiest day in the history of US airports, with nearly 3 million people screened at security checkpoints and less than 0.5% of flights canceled, making it the busiest travel day of the year.
Key Facts
The Transportation Security Administration screened 2,907,378 people at airports nationwide on Sunday, November 26, a record for the agency for the busiest day ever in air travel.
Less than 0.5% of the total 51,332 scheduled flights on Sunday were canceled, according to flight tracking service Flight Radar 24, and no airline canceled more than 1% of its flights.
Based on data from satellite service provider Anuvu, travel blogger Brett Snyder reported that 164 flights were canceled out of 127,420 scheduled flights from the Thursday before Thanksgiving through Sunday evening.
Snyder also noted that the majority of flights took off within 14 minutes of their scheduled departure time, with nearly 90% of Delta flights departing on time between Tuesday, November 21, and Sunday evening, while 72% of Spirit Airlines flights were the worst-performing, as only 72% of its flights departed on time.
AAA predicted that this year’s Thanksgiving holiday would be the busiest for air travel in nearly two decades, and although the organization did not release its official travel predictions for the Christmas holiday, the busy Thanksgiving holiday could be a test for a busy winter travel season.
The Big Numbers
Zero. That is the number of flights canceled by Sun Country Airlines over the Thanksgiving holiday, according to Snyder. JetBlue canceled only one flight.
Surprising Facts
Sunday marked the second time this year that the Transportation Security Administration broke its record for the busiest day. The agency set a previous record on Friday, June 30, screening 2.883 million travelers ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
Major Background
The relatively smooth travel records for this holiday stand in contrast to Christmas 2022, which saw thousands of flights canceled due to winter storms and a system failure on Southwest Airlines. A winter storm lasting nearly a week before Christmas resulted in the cancelation of thousands of flights, with major airports like O’Hare and Midway in Chicago, Denver International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and LaGuardia Airport in New York disrupted by weather. CNN reported that nearly 3,500 flights were canceled on Christmas Eve, 5,934 flights on Friday, December 23, and nearly 2,700 flights on Thursday, December 22. A major network failure at Southwest Airlines led to almost 70% of the company’s flights being canceled the day after Christmas, leaving thousands stranded on airport floors as other airlines were unable to accommodate them. The New York Times reported that over 3,000 flights in the US were canceled on Monday, December 26, with more than 7,400 other flights delayed. Ultimately, more than 17,000 flights were canceled in the last days of December. The Department of Transportation opened a federal investigation into the debacle and the company later announced it had dedicated more than a billion dollars to upgrade its technology systems.
What
Must-See
How holiday travel is shaping up this Christmas. AAA estimated last year that 113 million people would travel between December 23 and January 2, more than double the number of Americans the organization expects to travel during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2023. The busy season is approaching as airlines face “a shortage of air traffic controllers, airspace congestion, and runway and airport gate restrictions,” according to a Reuters report.
Looking Ahead
Reuters: Southern American airlines and others face a holiday travel test after the snowstorm of 2022.
Forbes: A southern American airline is under federal investigation for potential “misleading” scheduling.
Forbes: 10 U.S. airports suffering from the worst holiday flight delays – according to a new report.
Follow me on Twitter. Send me a tip. Mary Witfield Roeloffs
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