As 50 million US families getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, millions of people are out on the road currently in what can be referred to as one of the busiest travel months in the US. The airports and highways are preparing to accommodate a record number of passengers and cars, trucks, planes trains despite issues such as the weather or lack of air traffic control personnel.

Firstly, airport passengers set and broke records during the past weeks and months and there is no reason to assume that they will continue on this path in the future.

On Tuesday the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported it was screening 2.7 million passengers, and this was the most ever on this day before Thanksgiving. This trend is expected to rise further on Wednesday and the next Sunday, which will be the first of December, with participation from the Airlines for America industry group anticipating more than 3 million passengers to be on each of the days.

However, travellers should expect some interferences in the mentioned forms during their travelling. You will find that, again according to the FAA main causes of flight delays include weather and traffic congestion. The website FlightAware reported that 4,800 flights were delayed on Tuesday and 82 flights were cancelled.

United Airlines has raised alarm over a serious shortage of air traffic controllers with special emphasis on the Newark base in New Jersey. Due to poor staffing, the FAA is already in the process of coming up with traffic flow management to reduce congestion that comes with the delays.

Sheltered and challenging weather conditions

Traffic will influence the situation because the climate is expected to affect the ease of travelling. Some parts of the East and West coasts are under winter storm warnings while some states in the Midwest have been prepared for extreme cold weather, which may drop to as low as -40° F during the holiday, according to a forecast by the National Weather Service.

Nonetheless, William Churchill, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center in Maryland, said that all the above conditions are ‘weather friendly’ for a winter holiday. “So all things considered, it’s not too bad for Thanksgiving travel,” he pointed out.

Surge in Road and Cruise Travel

inch While airports become busy, car travel is the most popular way to celebrate Thanksgiving. AAA estimates that a record 80 million Americans or more will make a journey of more than 50 miles from their home during the holiday time.

A similar trend is identifiable in the cruise travel segment, which has also been bobbing up appreciably. According to Royal Caribbean Group itself, most of its fleets will be sailing between November 26 and December 2, with 145,000 berths available. AAA expects a 20% annual growth of cruise travellers at least, as Americans turn to other tourism opportunities.

Stores stocking up in anticipation of the Thanksgiving shopping spree

Due to heavy travel and potentially severe weather, the advice of many professionals is to be prepared. Passengers are encouraged to get to airports ahead of time, monitor weather conditions as well as traffic, and be tolerant of probable untimely delays. However, the increased business rush during Thanksgiving indicates that Americans are ready and willing to overcome all barriers, just to meet their loved ones during the holiday period.

It is on those last days before holidays, before Thanksgiving specifically, that all the hats of airlines, transport departments, and persons are on whether they pull through the hustle of getting people to their Thanksgiving celebrations in the spirit of the holiday.