PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, has traditionally been one of the busiest travel days of the year. Last year at the height of the pandemic, travel took a big hit. But this year, travelers are hitting the road, hopping a train or taking an airplane to get out of town for the holiday.
More than 90% of people in the Philadelphia area tell AAA they will be driving this year. However, Philadelphia International Airport is expected to look like pre-pandemic times, with 80% more passengers flying this year than last year.
Lines of travelers were moving along fairly quickly through TSA checkpoints on Wednesday morning. There is a new queue board up at the Terminals D/E checkpoint that shows an estimated wait time to get through security.
Mike from New Jersey was one of the people at the airport early, heading down to South Carolina to be with his parents.
"Good thing. Yeah, been a few months," he said. "And then last year, not at all. So, looking forward to it."
At this same time last year, at the height of the pandemic, there were not a lot of travelers. There is a dramatic difference this year, but volume is down about 21% from 2019, according to airport spokeswoman Heather Redfern.
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She suggests people get to the airport at least three hours early, just in case, because many people have not traveled yet since before the pandemic and are unfamiliar with changes in procedure.
Parking, of course, is an issue all the time, but especially now, with the economy lot closed. Drivers do need to plan ahead. And masking is required on airport grounds.
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