If you’re flying out for the holidays, you should expect a lot of company. That’s because the Federal Aviation Administration said that as many as 52,000 flights will carry millions of people to their holiday destinations on Friday.
The FAA says it also expects at least 440,000 flights will take off between Friday and Sunday, Dec. 27.
“This is always an amazing time at any airport, but here at BWI Marshall we’re prepared for this,” BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport CEO Shannetta Griffin said.
“We know that during this time of the year, up to New Year’s, they’ll be lots of passengers. I think it’s 440,000 passengers we are anticipating.”
At Reagan National Airport, there have been a couple of delays due to the winds that have hit the D.C. region and not many crowds.
The FAA said that the No. 1 cause of delays and cancellations is weather. Furthermore, data from the National Airspace System shows that close to 63% of total delay minutes is due to the weather.
WTOP spoke to some people who said they’re happy to get to their families for the holidays.
Kelly, who has been living in D.C. recently, is traveling to Des Moines, Iowa, to see her parents and said checking into her flight has been “pretty smooth.”
“It doesn’t seem too insane,” Kelly said. “I’m wondering if more people are traveling tomorrow morning or this evening.”
Tara, a resident of Maryland, is flying with her family to Alabama for a Christmas cruise to the Bahamas.
“Been kind of frustrating … the lines are long and traveling with kids but people not so helpful because is just a lot going on,” Tara said.
WTOP’s Dan Ronan and Alan Etter contributed to this report.
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