The shutdown is over. Flights have resumed. Thanksgiving travelers might wonder: What now?

WCCO-AM / 830 WCCO

After lifting its shutdown-era flight restrictions on commercial airlines last week, the Federal Aviation Administration now says it's preparing for its busiest Thanksgiving week in 15 years, with more than 360,000 flights scheduled to take off in the U.S. between Monday and next Tuesday. That’s more than 17.8 million people who will be screened by the Transportation Security Administration.

Transcript

00:00AAA is projecting another record holiday.

00:03You have to remember, Thanksgiving is the busiest travel holiday.

00:07We're projecting nearly 82 million people.

00:09That would be a new record, not only in the overall category,

00:12but we're also projecting record travel in the air and on the roads.

00:16There may be some people who said, you know what?

00:18I want to avoid airports altogether.

00:20I'm going to drive my own vehicle, and I'm going to do a road trip instead.

00:23So we're projecting at least 73 million people,

00:25but that number could end up being higher

00:27because more people now potentially are switching to road trips.

00:31The good news for drivers is that gas prices are the same as they were last year.

00:35The national average was 3.06 last Thanksgiving.

00:37That's about what we're paying this year.

00:39Oil supply has been steady in 2025,

00:42and gas prices have not really fluctuated a whole lot, maybe by 25 cents.

00:50We're projecting 6 million people will be traveling by air

00:54between Tuesday and Monday of Thanksgiving week.

00:57I think people were stressed out to know that flights were being reduced

01:01and that there were cancellations and delays.

01:03Travel can be stressful on a good day.

01:05So having all of that uncertainty was certainly stressful for a lot of travelers.

01:09But I think when it comes to holiday travel, people really value those trips.

01:12They didn't want to have to cancel if they didn't have to.

01:15So I think a lot of people were hoping there would be a resolution in time for Thanksgiving week.

01:18We got that.

01:19So I think now they're just having to brace for the normal sort of delays and cancellations

01:24that could happen over a holiday period.

01:26A Tuesday and Wednesday are notorious for being crowded at the airports,

01:30as well as the Sunday coming back.

01:32We are advising give yourself extra time.

01:35We will be fine.

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