53 Million Americans Expected to Endure Thanksgiving Travel’s Morass This Year
Photo Credit: More Americans are expected to travel by car over the Thanksgiving weekend than last year. Pixabay / prvideotv
Skift Take
The large number of Americans expected to travel for Thanksgiving is another sign of travel's resurgence but will pose a significant challenge to an aviation industry crippled by staffing shortages. If the airlines — and their thousands of new hires — struggle to cope with the surge of travelers, it could be another blow to industry looking for a quick recovery.
Americans eager to gather with family for Thanksgiving are expected to travel in larger numbers by plane and car for the holiday this year than in 2020.
More than 53 million Americans are projected to hit the road for the holiday, a 13 percent increase from last year, according to the American Automobile Association. Roughly 48.8 million of them are expected to travel by car from Wednesday through Sunday, estimates location data company Arrivalist. That number represents a 9.6 percent jump from 2020 but is 2.3 percent below pre-pandemic levels recorded the previous year.
