Record number of travelers expected during Thanksgiving holiday exodus this week
NEW YORK -- It's Thanksgiving week and what is expected to be a record number of people will be hitting the roads and taking to the skies to celebrate.
The Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday will likely be the busiest day at the nation's airports and it is projected to screen 18.3 million people from Tuesday through Dec. 2, up 6% from last year and up 17% from 2022.
Those are massive numbers, so if an airport is in your future this week, officials say to plan ahead and get there early.
Smooth sailing so far at Newark Liberty
Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal C was really the calm before the storm on Sunday. CBS News New York's Derick Waller spoke to officials about what travelers can expect from what many think will be be the busiest holiday travel season on record.
Newark is a major hub for United Airlines, which has close to 400 flights a day there. Officials said operations were running smoothly with very few delays, but in recent weeks there have been significant delays because of something totally out of the airlines' hands, a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Waller spoke exclusively with John Weigand, United's managing director of their operations center at Newark, about how that's affecting flights.
"We are working with them every single day. They are doing everything they can to produce some new controllers, and, just like pilots, you don't produce that overnight, right?" Weigand said. They have to go to school, and then there is a proficiency piece to that."
