Holiday travelers show up early for 3rd busiest travel day on record after flight delays at PHL
There were more than 150 delays at Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- More than half a million people in greater Philadelphia are expected to travel to their Thanksgiving destinations this week, resulting in congestion on roads and in airports.
There were more than 150 delays at Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday as steady rain fell, causing frustrations for travelers on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
"It was a little stressful coming home," said Mary Lou Olmsted, who was traveling from Florida to Philadelphia. Her flight was delayed five and half hours. "I think there was some sort of problem with the plane when it was coming south out of Philly. Someone mentioned they might have hit a bird or something."
Traveling is for the birds this holiday week. Everyone is looking to migrate to their destination as quickly as possible, including some pigeons that were flying around baggage claim. Meanwhile, some Birds fans were a few of the lucky ones.
"We had a flight through Chicago, made it right through. Everything was on time. No delays or anything like that? No delays," said another traveler.
Other travelers dealt with long delays.
"Big one in Saint Louis but, you know, we were supposed to be here like an hour ago," said Bryan Lane, from Oakland.
The backup caused plenty of congestion.
"With the weather system that's moving across the country, I think a lot of folks have been keeping an eye on that, understanding that many people are planning their getaways Tuesday and Wednesday to get to their holiday destination," said AAA spokesperson Jana Tidwell.
AAA is projecting 680,000 people in greater Philadelphia are traveling for Thanksgiving, the third highest travel volume since 2001.
"We are quickly approaching pre-pandemic levels. People are ready to travel," said Tidwell.
Despite some flight hiccups, some passengers were just happy to be with family.
"Just with travel and how hectic it gets, I was expecting it to be really packed. Airport security was really smooth," said Katie Dungan, from Phonexville.
While the airport is packed, roads are expected to be backed up too AAA says nearly 90% of travelers in the Philadelphia area are driving to their thanksgiving destinations.
