As the Christmas countdown ticks closer, travelers are scrambling, heeding advice to reconsider their holiday travel plans as winter weather brings the threat of delays and cancellations to airport hubs stretching from Chicago to New York.
After visiting family in Dallas, Dawn Scott got to Dallas Love Field Wednesday, a day before originally planned.
“I’m from Texas headed home to Canada but flying into Buffalo and was told I need to change my flight. I was supposed to leave tomorrow,” said Scott.
While Thursday and Friday are expected to be the busiest for airports, Tuesday the TSA screened more than two million people nationwide.
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“Coming from the airport yesterday, it was packed. Even when my parents came to pick me up it was hard to move around at all. Definitely a lot of traveling going on,” said Journey Vanderveer.
AAA projects this could be the third busiest holiday season on record as travel continues to rebound from the pandemic with nearly nine million Texans planning to drive or fly.
As they do, AAA encourages travelers to remain weather aware.
"If your travel plans are flexible and you believe that weather impacts them, go ahead and try to make the changes if you can now. Don't wait, because the longer you wait the more likely you are to be stuck or you're going to be delayed,” said Daniel Armbruster.
For those headed to impacted destinations, many airlines are waiving change fees.
For those driving, AAA offers winter driving tips and encourages people to have a fully stocked emergency kit with traction aids like sand, salt or cat litter, a shovel, an ice scraper, a flashlight with extra batteries, jumper cables, phone chargers, a first aid kit, snacks and drinking water and enough warm clothing and blankets for all passengers.
