U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday, Nov. 24, that an all-time record for air travel is expected this week for the Thanksgiving holiday after air traffic has almost fully returned to normal following the reduction in flights forced by the recent federal government shutdown.
At a press conference held at Newark Airport, Duffy assured that between Monday and December 30, 31 million passengers are expected at the country’s airports and that the day with the highest volume of traffic will be this Tuesday, November 25, when the Secretary of Transportation says there will be 52,000 flights.
U.S. reinforces staff and forecasts record traffic
“We anticipate that there will be robust staffing at our towers, platforms and (traffic control) centers throughout the airspace, unlike the situation we had during the shutdown.”
Duffy said in reference to the 6 percent cut in operations forced by the Federal shutdown, which ended Nov. 12, due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
The Transportation Secretary said that the country expects some 73 million Americans to travel by road this Thanksgiving holiday, according to data from the American Automobile Association(AAA).
They expect the heaviest traffic flow to occur on Tuesday, November 25, Wednesday, November 26 and Sunday, November 30.
By rail, 1.2 million passengers are forecast over the next six days, Duffy added.
During the event he mentioned a campaign recently launched by his department asking Americans to improve their manners during air travel in the run-up to the current holiday season.
With information from EFE
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