U.S. carriers anticipate unprecedented travel demand for Thanksgiving flights. The Transportation Security Administration estimates that around 30 million passengers will be transported between Nov. 26 and Nov. 28. This is the highest number of passengers on record. According to the TSA, the busiest day is expected to be the Sunday after Thanksgiving, with approximately 2.9 million passengers.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicts a rise in Thanksgiving flights this year. On Wednesday before the holiday, the peak number of flights is expected to be 49,606, an increase from last year’s peak of 48,192. According to the FAA, the busiest day of 2023 so far was June 29, which saw almost 53,000 flights.
Delta Air Lines has announced that it plans to transport between 6.2 and 6.4 million passengers from Nov. 17 to 28. This increased from 5.7 million last year to 6.25 million in 2019.
According to recent estimates, United Airlines is set to carry 5.9 million passengers during the upcoming travel period, a 13% increase from last year and a 5% increase from 2019. Meanwhile, American Airlines expects to transport a record-breaking 7.8 million passengers from November 16 to November 28, up from 7 million passengers in 2022 and approximately 200,000 more passengers than during the same period in 2019.