MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Millions of Americans are on the move today. It's expected to be the busiest Thanksgiving holiday ever for air travel, putting the U.S. aviation system to the test.
JENNIFER SPANN: So far, so good. Actually, the airport wasn't quite as hectic and busy as we thought it would be, so it's been smooth sailing so far. So...
JORGE RIVAS: I mean, I heard that it was going be a record season in terms of traveling. But if you're traveling to see family to spend, you know, good-quality time, you know, you're willing to put in the effort.
MINA AKBARI: So I was prepared. I went early, and there were, like, no lines at TSA, no lines to check my bag.
KELLY: That was Jennifer Spann from Atlanta, Jorge Rivas from Boston and Mina Akbari from Miami, all of them passing through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport today, which is where we also find NPR transportation correspondent Joel Rose. Hey, Joel.
JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Hey, I can hear the terminal there behind you. OK, so when we say this is going to be a Thanksgiving for the record books when it comes to air travel, what does that actually look like?
ROSE: You know, up close here at DCA, I have to say, it is a pretty well-oiled machine. I mean, the parking garage is nearly full. The pickup line at arrivals is a mess. It is very long, very slow. But the lines at security are pretty manageable. You know, nationwide, the TSA - the Transportation Security Administration - is expecting to screen 18 million people over this holiday week. The busiest days will likely be today and this Sunday - right around 3 million travelers screened each day, probably a little bit higher even than that on Sunday.
KELLY: And so you're prowling around the terminal, talking to folks. What are they telling you?
ROSE: Well, folks here seem to be, for the most part, pleasantly surprised with how well things are going. I talked to Sophie Brooks (ph) from Somerville, Massachusetts. She flew into D.C. today with her husband and two children under the age of 4.
SOPHIE BROOKS: They were little angels so far. Now we're just hoping that the rental line is short. We also have a 1 1/2 hour drive coming up, so that will be questionable.
ROSE: I think the bad news for Sophie and the rest of us is that traffic on the roads is also very heavy today. AAA is predicting a record number of people traveling by automobile as well - more than 71 million people over the holiday week. So, you know, leave plenty of time if you're planning to drive as well.
KELLY: I got to ask you, Joel, about the weather - any places where that is disrupting travel?
ROSE: Denver, for sure. They got a couple inches of snow today, and that has led to now hundreds of delayed flights there - by far the most of any U.S. airport. That front dropped several feet of snow up in the Rocky Mountains and then turned to rain across the middle part of the country. But most everywhere else is looking relatively good - certainly not seeing anything like that big holiday meltdown of the winter holidays in 2022.
KELLY: Thank goodness for that. OK, any other trouble spots you're watching out for, though?
ROSE: Yeah, one spot to keep an eye on is Newark Liberty International Airport, outside New York City. The Federal Aviation Administration was forced to delay some flights there today because of an acute shortage of air traffic controllers for the New York airspace. And United Airlines, which has a hub in Newark, has been complaining about "significant delays," quote-unquote, all this month. United says more than 340,000 of its passengers have been affected by delays and cancellations so far.
The FAA has acknowledged the problem. The FAA says in a statement that it is working to address a, quote, "decadeslong issue of staffing," unquote, in New York. The FAA has moved some jobs from Long Island to Philadelphia to try to improve the situation, and it's also trying to hire more air traffic controllers, but that may take a while to show results. So if you are traveling through Newark or, you know, really anywhere this holiday week, pack your patience, as they say in the business.
KELLY: NPR's Joel Rose, out with travelers today at D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. Thanks, Joel.
ROSE: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
