Getaway day in the Bay Area: Tips on Thanksgiving travel

The Thanksgiving travel rush was back on this year, as people caught planes in numbers not seen in years, setting aside inflation concerns to reunite with loved ones and enjoy some normalcy after two holiday seasons marked by COVID-19 restrictions.

Changing habits around work and play, however, might spread out the crowds and reduce the usual amount of holiday travel stress. Experts say many people will start holiday trips early or return home later than normal because they will spend a few days working remotely — or at least tell the boss they’re working remotely.

The busiest travel days during Thanksgiving week are usually Tuesday, Wednesday and the Sunday after the holiday. This year, the Federal Aviation Administration expects Tuesday to be the busiest travel day with roughly 48,000 scheduled flights. 

On Wednesday, Oakland airport officials expected 170,000 passengers over the next five days. That’s a 10% increase from last Thanksgiving but still only about 90% of the traffic they saw pre-pandemic in 2019. 

"You know you’re not home-bound anymore and we can get back to our normal lives," said Carmen Segrove, who was traveling with her husband, Mark. "We get to see our grandchildren and enjoy a good meal and just be together." 

David Smith was flying back from Hawaii, only to find Oakland's airport "packed." 

" was amazed to see how many people are waiting for flights in the terminal," he said. 

The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.6 million travelers on Monday, surpassing the 2.5 million screened the Monday before Thanksgiving in 2019. The same trend occurred Sunday, marking the first year that the number of people catching planes on Thanksgiving week surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

"People are traveling on different days. Not everyone is traveling on that Wednesday night," says Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president at the trade group Airlines for America. "People are spreading their travel out throughout the week, which I also think will help ensure smoother operations."

AAA predicts that 54.6 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home in the U.S. this week, a 1.5% bump over Thanksgiving last year and only 2% less than in 2019. The auto club and insurance seller says nearly 49 million of those will travel by car, and 4.5 million will fly between Wednesday and Sunday.

U.S. airlines struggled to keep up as the number of passengers surged this year.

"We did have a challenging summer," said Pinkerton, whose group speaks for members including American, United and Delta. She said that airlines have pared their schedules and hired thousands of workers — they now have more pilots than before the pandemic. "As a result, we’re confident that the week is going to go well."

U.S. airlines plan to operate 13% fewer flights this week than during Thanksgiving week in 2019. However, by using larger planes on average, the number of seats will drop only 2%, according to data from travel-researcher Cirium.

Airlines continue to blame flight disruptions on shortages of air traffic controllers, especially in Florida, a major holiday destination.

People getting behind the wheel or boarding a plane don’t seem fazed by higher gasoline and airfare prices than last year or the widespread concern about inflation and the economy. That is already leading to predictions of strong travel over Christmas and New Year’s.

"This pent-up demand for travel is still a real thing. It doesn’t feel like it’s going away," says Tom Hall, a vice president and longtime writer for Lonely Planet, the publisher of travel guides. "That’s keeping planes full, that’s keeping prices high."

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Associated Press writers Hannah Schoenbaum in Raleigh, North Carolina, Margaret Stafford in Kansas City and AP video journalist Terence Chea in Oakland, California contributed to this report. KTVU's Amanda Quintana contributed to this report. 

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