FAA Prepared For Busiest Thanksgiving Travel In 15 Years

Authored by T.J.Muscaro via The Epoch Times,

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is preparing for the busiest Thanksgiving holiday travel period in 15 years.

More than 360,000 flights are scheduled between Monday, Nov. 24, and Tuesday, Dec. 2, delivering people to and from their destinations across the country. Flights are set to peak on Nov. 25, with more than 52,000 flights alone, and Nov. 26 is expected to be nearly as busy, with more than 50,000 flights scheduled.

Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, is expected to see the lowest air traffic that week, with the administration forecasting more than 25,500 flights. Last week, the FAA ended its mandatory flight reductions and now stands ready to oversee the travel spike.

“Thanks to the dedication of our air traffic controllers and every FAA employee, we are ready for the holiday rush and take pride in helping travelers reach their friends and families during this important time of year,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said.

“I am deeply grateful to our entire FAA team. Even through a period of record-high traffic, their unwavering commitment keeps the system running safely.”

One of the airports that faced those reductions, Tampa International Airport (TPA) in Florida, released its own statement ahead of the holiday rush to assure travelers that it would be fully staffed.

“TPA is ready to fully handle the estimated 924,000-plus passengers projected to pass through the Airport over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period from November 20 to December 1,” the airport said in its statement.

“TPA’s operations team anticipates that Sunday, November 30, will be the busiest day, with an estimated 86,278 passengers expected to pass through the airport.”

If delays are experienced, it is unlikely to be due to the volume of flights, according to the FAA.

As of Nov. 10, the administration said that approximately 13.5 percent of total delay time was due to volume, while more than 62 percent was due to weather.

And weather could become an issue for several airports across the country and across the travel period.

“A frontal system passing from the Great Lakes to the interior Northeast Sunday into Monday will bring a mix of rain and snow showers,” the Weather Prediction Center said on Nov. 22.

“Thunderstorms will continue today for south Texas in [the] vicinity of a stationary frontal boundary.”

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is anticipating severe rainfall on Nov. 24, with rainfall totals possibly reaching up to four inches. However, on Thanksgiving Day, the weather is expected to be sunny and dry, with a high of 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heavy rains will also be felt across Texas and the Mississippi River, extending to Kansas City, Missouri.

“Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected late Monday into Tuesday as another disturbance and associated cold front pushes through Southeast TX,” the National Weather Service’s Houston office stated.

“Some storms will have the potential to become strong to severe. In addition, locally heavy rain will be possible. The greatest risk of strong to severe storms will be generally north of I-10. Instability will be a limiting factor though.”

Slow-moving showers will also affect the greater Atlanta area and the southeast.

“Slow-moving showers push into the area Tuesday night into Wednesday and Thursday with beneficial rainfall expected, especially over north Georgia,” the National Weather Service’s Atlanta/Peachtree City Office said.

Out west, Denver could also be affected as the National Weather Service reports a cold front moving across its part of the Rocky Mountains on Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, bringing possible snow showers. However, as of Nov. 22, forecasted travel impacts remain minimal.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) projected that approximately 6 million people will travel by air for Thanksgiving this year, a 2 million year-over-year increase. But this represents only a fraction of total travelers during this holiday period.

“At least 73 million people will travel by car, that’s nearly 90 percent of Thanksgiving travelers, and an additional 1.3 million people on the road compared to last Thanksgiving,” AAA said on its website.

“That number could end up being higher if some air travelers decide to drive instead of fly following recent flight cancellations.”