Fourth of July travel to reach record levels amid airline chaos
David Zimmermann
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Holiday travel over the Fourth of July weekend is set to hit record-breaking levels, according to new data, even as air traffic across the country continues to be a headache for travelers.
An estimated 50.7 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles from their homes, a 3.7% increase from the previous record of 49 million in 2019, an American Automobile Association news release said. Last year’s total number of travelers came to 48.7 million, which has grown by 4.3% between 2022 and 2023.
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“We’ve never projected travel numbers this high for Independence Day weekend,” Paula Twidale, the senior vice president of AAA Travel, said in the Monday release. “What this tells us is that despite inventory being limited and some prices 50% higher, consumers are not cutting back on travel this summer. Many of them heeded our advice and booked early, another sign of strong travel demand.”
This year’s statistics reveal that of those 50.7 million people who are traveling between Friday and Tuesday, 43.2 million are driving to their holiday destinations, while 4.17 million are flying.
Transportation data company INRIX expected Friday would be the busiest day to travel, and it recommended people driving that day to either leave in the morning or after 6 p.m. to avoid the heaviest amount of traffic, the release noted.
“With record-breaking travelers expected on the road this holiday weekend, drivers should prepare for above-average delays to their favorite destinations,” Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at INRIX, said. “Using traffic apps, local DOT notifications, and 511 services are key to minimizing holiday travel traffic frustrations this Independence Day.”
Though the vast majority of travelers are driving, airports will be strained as flights continue to be delayed or canceled, conditions that will only get worse across the country over the next few days.
Earlier this week, at least 7,000 flights within, into, or out of the United States were delayed each day between Tuesday and Wednesday, with at least 8,000 delays on Thursday, according to data compiled by FlightAware. At least 2,000 flights within, into, or out of the country were canceled Tuesday, and that number has been dropping since.
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FlightAware showed that as of late Friday morning, over 1,700 U.S. flights were delayed, with about 300 canceled.
The delays and cancellations of domestic flights this week were because of several factors, including thunderstorms along the East Coast, large crowds due to the holiday travel, and poor visibility caused by the Canadian wildfire smoke affecting the Northeast.