Millions of people to pass through North Texas for Thanksgiving travels
DALLAS - The Transportation Security Administration predicts it will screen more than 18 million passengers between Tuesday and early next week. More than 3 million of them are expected to fly through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Helen Johnson was there on Monday, as she returned to Chicago for Thanksgiving. The 64-year-old said she hadn't been since her mother passed away.
"Mom passed and I started doing the cooking," Johnson said. "My kids live here, but I'm going home to be with my siblings."
Her brother, she said, has Alzheimer's, and she wanted to ensure they spent this holiday together.
"Family is so important," she said. "It's my brothers and my sister's. But my brothers mean so much to me, especially my oldest one. And he's not doing so well."
Evan Olson and Lauren Kincaid-Filbey were in the same American Airlines terminal as Johnson.
"I have a brother in Dallas, and so we're going to see him," Olson said. "My sister-in-law, my two nieces, her family, and my smaller family and my parents are coming in from Indianapolis."
The two said that they travel to California for Christmas to visit Kincaid-Fibley's family. She said the Texas Thanksgiving visits have taught her well.
"One year, I tried to bring a cold salad," she said. "You don't bring a cold bean salad."
She's also learning that they may have arrived in Dallas on Monday night, but planning for the busy travel time could happen sooner.
"So I don't think we're like thinking so much about it until we've bought our ticket, and then we're kind of thinking about, okay, does this seem like a crazy travel time?" Kincaid-Filbey said.
Johnson and the other two travelers have no connection other than being among the millions of Thanksgiving going skyward in what's being touted as the busiest Thanksgiving travel holiday ever.
"We are anxiously looking after and looking forward to taking care of the over 1.2 million customers that will travel on American Airlines this holiday period," said Jim Moses, senior vice president of American Airlines DFW Hub.
"Through DFW Airport, we will offer more seats and look after more customers this Thanksgiving holiday period than we ever have with over 900 peak day departures," he said.
Olson said he doesn't think about the long lines they may face returning to Chicago's O'Hare or even the one he could have faced in Dallas.
"It's more about spending time with family," he said.
Johnson said that her mindset switches into travel mode when she buys her ticket, so long lines do not surprise her.