SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Transportation Security Administration has predicted that nearly 3,000,000 people will catch a flight today.
If that expectation holds true, Nov. 26, 2023 will be the single busiest day of travel in TSA history.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, the Springfield-Branson National Airport saw plenty of people returning home, while others headed to the airport for work.
“I’m a college student, so I’m going back before the start of this week, back from Thanksgiving,” said Cecilia Williams, who is flying to Knoxville, Tennessee. “It wouldn’t surprise me that a lot of people are traveling today.”
That expected rush has already had an impact on Williams’ plans.
“I was supposed to fly back at 11:25 a.m. back to Knoxville, and the plane was delayed,” Williams said. “I only had an hour and a half layover from because I was going to Chicago [my initial flight] got delayed about 45 minutes. If I were to get on the plane, I wouldn’t have made my connecting flight. I just canceled the whole flight, like altogether, and now I booked a brand-new flight.”
Williams says she flew to Springfield earlier this week, avoiding another traditionally busy day, the day before Thanksgiving.
“My family lives here, and I didn’t want to stay in my college town for the holidays,” Williams said. “I came in on Monday and just kind of hung out with family the whole time.”
Another flyer, Jeff McEntire stayed home for Thanksgiving, but is flying out of Springfield to Pennsylvania for work.
“It was pretty smooth when I flew home last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving out of Pittsburgh,” McEntire said. “It was really good. I didn’t have any problems, no delays or anything, it’s actually been surprisingly good this season.”
McEntire says as a frequent flyer, he has seen things go smoothly so far this season.
“It actually is a very good sign because you’re always concerned about making your flights, your connections,” McEntire said. “When there’s delays, it’s very concerning, but today, everything looks good for my flights.”