Nov. 26--Today is not the busiest air travel day of the year, no matter how many times it's repeated on TV news.
In fact, the busiest travel day for flying this year in America will be Sunday, as Thanksgiving travelers return from their family visits.
At Chicago airports, many days see heavier airport traffic than the day before Thanksgiving, according to FAA statistics.
That's not to say today won't be full of hassles for many. Winter storms on the East Coast could conspire to make flying miserable. As of early Wednesday, some 226 flights nationwide were canceled, the vast majority at airports near New York City, according to FlightAware.
But repeating the mantra that Thanksgiving Eve is the busiest air travel day doesn't make it so.
Even the U.S. Travel Association earlier this month bemoaned the crowded state of U.S. airports by using the day before Thanksgiving as the benchmark for travel hell in a study it released called "Thanksgiving in the Skies."
It said the study "measured how soon the average day at U.S. airports would resemble the Wednesday before Thanksgiving -- notoriously one of the most strenuous air travel days of the year."
But according to several sources, including airline industry group Airlines for America and travel booking site Chicago-based Orbitz.com, Sunday this year will be the busiest day for air travelers.
That holds true for Chicago, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. The agency reported that Sunday will be the heaviest day at both O'Hare International and Midway airports, expecting an estimated combined 300,000 passengers.
Indeed, Chicago airport traffic on Thanksgiving Eve is pretty average. For example, at O'Hare last year, Nov. 27 -- the day before Thanksgiving -- ranked as the 169th busiest day of the year in terms of number of flights, according to flight data from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Of course poor weather, especially in the area of major airports, can disrupt flights nationwide on any day, which is exactly what was happening Wednesday.
"Although this is not a major weather event, we expect thousands of delays that will cause moderate disruption to Thanksgiving travelers," FlightAware warned. "The delays will begin accumulating early afternoon as the worst of the weather impacts the Northeast and will continue to cascade through the evening."
gkarp@tribpub.com
