This week’s record Christmas travel season is expected to be made a little more difficult by industrial action, winter weather, and the customary youngsters arguing in the back seat.
After voting to go on strike on Friday, service employees at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina left their jobs at 5 a.m. Monday, adding to the unpredictable weather that much of the nation is experiencing during what is expected to be the biggest holiday travel season ever.
Commencing industrial action Monday, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) declared its intention to “end poverty wages” and demand “respect on the job during the holiday travel season.”
The striking personnel are from Prospect Airport Services and ABM, whose duties include helping wheelchair-bound passengers and cleaning inside aircraft. In May, workers there went on strike as well.
The impact of the strike was not immediately visible on the airport’s online departures board. With over 25 million passengers each year, Charlotte Douglas is the ninth-busiest airport in the US.
About 100 SEIU employees at Los Angeles International Airport are scheduled to demonstrate later Monday in support of increased compensation and more affordable health care, which could cause delays for West Coast travelers. The minimum wage should be raised from $25 to $30 per hour, according to the union.
Traveler Marc Supreme says he is concerned that the Midwest may see more severe weather this week after it took him 12 hours to go from Peoria, Illinois, to Atlanta on Thursday due to ice and snow.
“It does, indeed. It does, particularly because I was unaware of the weather at all. As he waited at Hartfield-Jackson International Airport on his way back to Illinois, he stated, “I should have checked, so I guess it’s one of the things for the holidays, make sure you check the weather, because I had no clue that I was going to take 12 hours to get to Atlanta.”
Between Tuesday and next Monday, some 80 million individuals are expected to travel more than 50 miles from their homes using the roadways, railroads, airplanes, and even cruise ships.
According to TSA Administrator David Pekoske on X, this Thanksgiving will be the busiest in terms of air travel ever. Thankfully, our workforce is also at its highest point in history. We’re prepared.
Thanksgiving is being held later than usual this year, with the final Thursday falling on November 28. This could result in more people traveling home on Monday and Tuesday instead of staying longer.
With the main airports in Orlando and Miami anticipating 1.9 million passengers over the course of the 12-day trip, many are headed south.
Weather woes hit festive plans
Two distinct storm systems are expected to produce severe weather to various regions of the nation, according to NBC meteorologist Michelle Grossman. Travel in mountainous regions may be challenging on Monday and Tuesday due to the possibility of strong winds and snow in the Rockies and Cascades.
As the storm proceeds east across the Plains on Wednesday, it will get stronger and spread out, bringing with it a wintry combination of snow, rain, and high winds.
Much of the Eastern Seaboard, from New England to the South, may see rain on Thanksgiving Day, while the northern states may have extremely frigid temperatures—26 degrees in Minnesota, for example.
Since Friday, bad weather has caused 17,000 flights nationwide to be canceled or delayed.
Best times to travel?
With 71.7 million car trips this Thanksgiving, which is 1.3 million more than last year, the vast majority of travel will take place by car. This is partly due to decreasing gas costs, which might hit a national average of $3 per gallon this week.
The busiest times on the roads will be Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, according to data from INRIX, a travel researcher. However, many might not be aware that Thanksgiving Day itself is usually obvious.
According to AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz, “We do recommend, [on] Tuesday and Wednesday try to leave early in the morning, the afternoon hours are the worst,” she told NBC News.
“We always say traveling on the holiday itself is the best day to travel, not only because if you’re flying it’s cheaper tickets, but also there are just fewer people on the roads and at the airports,” she stated.
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