Airports Continue To Fill On The Busiest Day Of Holiday Travel
CHICAGO (CBS) – More than 100-million Americans are traveling for Christmas, Hanukah and New Year's.
Friday marks the biggest crunch of airline travels, leading to both O'Hare and Midway airports being filled with passengers.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli is at O'Hare where the hustle and bustle of the holidays are getting underway.
For the second straight year, experts say a record number of travelers are expected to take to the skies this holiday season. According to AAA, this year will be a record-breaking holiday travel season. The company predicts that more than 103-million people will take to the nation's highways and flyways.
In all, more than 45-million people are expected to fly in and out of the nation's airports; which is about 1.5-million more people than last year, despite the fact that this year's travel season is one day shorter. AAA forecast for more than 20 percent increase in air travel.
And the skies will be much busier over Chicago. Friday will be the busiest travel day at both O'Hare and Midway airports with nearly 280,000 travelers passing through the two airports, with an estimated more than 210,000 passengers at O'Hare and close to 70,000 at Midway.
To be safe, it is advised to arrive two hours ahead of domestic flights and three hours ahead of international flights.
With the travel period ending Jan. 6, officials say more than 4.5-million people are expected to make their way through the city's two airports. And while the traffic volume is impressive at both airports, critics say the on-time performance is not.
Smartasset.com said nearly half of all the flights this month at O'Hare are delayed. That is the fourth worst rate in the country.
Therefore…leave early.