American carriers are deploying additional aircraft and crews in preparation for what is projected to be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period ever recorded, even as the industry continues to recover from a prolonged government shutdown, air traffic controller shortages, and approaching winter storms.
Airlines for America, the trade association representing passenger and cargo carriers, predicts that 31 million passengers will fly between November 21 and December 1, shattering all previous Thanksgiving records. The Federal Aviation Administration has described it as the busiest holiday stretch in 15 years, with carriers scheduling more than 3,60,000 flights from Monday through the following Tuesday alone, reported IANS.
The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 17.8 million travellers between November 25 and December 2, including a possible single-day record of more than 3 million passengers on Sunday, December 1.
Mega-hubs to face intense strain
The nation’s largest airports will absorb the heaviest impact. Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas–Fort Worth, Charlotte, and Denver are preparing for relentless traffic, with Atlanta—the world’s busiest airport—still reeling from this week’s storm-related evacuation of its control tower, which halted operations for nearly an hour.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has urged passengers to arrive early, turn on app notifications, and, in his words, “dress respectfully and treat each other with kindness” as crowded cabins and heightened tensions test everyone’s patience.
Airlines are rushing to reinstate full schedules after government-imposed flight caps during the shutdown exacerbated existing controller shortages.
While the FAA maintains that control towers will be sufficiently staffed, the system now contends with new challenges: snow hammering the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest, heavy rain moving across Tennessee and the Northeast, intermittent technology issues, and constrained fuel availability at certain airports.
Carriers are warning that the true peak will hit during the post-holiday return. Sunday, December 1, is on pace to become the single busiest air-travel day of 2025, with virtually every seat already sold on most major routes.
