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Thanksgiving travel 2020: Pandemic hangs over every decision

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(CNN) — In a year of constant uncertainty, where decisions are painstakingly considered and might be reversed, holiday travel is no exception.

Many weary Americans eager to join family and friends for Thanksgiving face another risk calculation as they weigh scrapping travel plans at the last minute or going ahead as Covid-19 cases surge.

Gail Duilio, a retired public health nurse in Portland, Oregon, has canceled her flight to Minnesota for the holiday and her mother’s 93rd birthday.

“When making the arrangements a month ago, I felt the risks vs. benefits weighed on the side of going,” she told CNN. This week, the risks tipped the scales in the other direction for her.

Travel organization AAA has said that it expects at least a 10% drop in travel this Thanksgiving because of spiking coronavirus cases, shifting travel restrictions and calls by health and government officials for people to stay home.

Airline crew members and travelers at Washington Dulles International Airport on November 19, 2020.

Airline crew members and travelers at Washington Dulles International Airport on November 19, 2020.

Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

AAA forecasts nearly 48 million travelers will drive to their destinations — representing a 4.3% drop from last year in the number of people traveling by car over the holiday period, which AAA defines as Wednesday to Sunday.

Air travel is expected to see its largest one-year decrease on record for Thanksgiving, a nearly 48% drop, with just 2.4 million travelers expected to fly, according to the organization.

Julio Perez, a mechanical engineer from Palm Bay, Florida, expects to be among those flying. He has a Delta flight to Atlanta on Monday to see his mother.

“I’ll be taking sanitary wipes in a zip lock bag to clean surfaces and not touch door handles while at the airport. I will also be wearing a mask the whole time. Good thing the trip is only 1.5 hours of flight time,” he wrote in a message to CNN.

An ‘individual choice’

While air travel volume has been gutted by the pandemic, aviation officials are expecting that the holiday could set a pandemic-era passenger record.

The Transportation Security Administration expects that Thanksgiving numbers will be “relatively consistent” with the end of the long Columbus Day weekend when more than a million people flew on Sunday, October 18, marking the first time passenger numbers topped 1 million since March.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske said he expects the busiest travel days will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day and the Sunday afterward.

Aviation leaders called Thanksgiving travel an “individual choice” in a briefing on Thursday.

Passengers wait in line at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on October 19, the day after the total number of passengers screened by the TSA in a day reached one million for the first time since March.

Passengers wait in line at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on October 19, the day after the total number of passengers screened by the TSA in a day reached one million for the first time since March.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

“We’re not encouraging people to travel. Do we want to see them travel? Yes, but only if it’s safe for them,” said Nick Calio, head of trade association Airlines for America. “There’s a variety of factors involved in that for each

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Pandemic hangs over every decision

Posted on by

In a year of constant uncertainty, where decisions are painstakingly considered and might be reversed, holiday travel is no exception.



a group of people standing in front of a crowd: Passengers enter a TSA checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport on October 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.

© Scott Olson/Getty Images North America
Passengers enter a TSA checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport on October 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.

Many weary Americans eager to join family and friends for Thanksgiving face another risk calculation as they weigh scrapping travel plans at the last minute or going ahead as Covid-19 cases surge.

Gail Duilio, a retired public health nurse in Portland, Oregon, has canceled her flight to Minnesota for the holiday and her mother’s 93rd birthday.

“When making the arrangements a month ago, I felt the risks vs. benefits weighed on the side of going,” she told CNN. This week, the risks tipped the scales in the other direction for her.

Travel organization AAA has said that it expects at least a 10% drop in travel this Thanksgiving because of spiking coronavirus cases, shifting travel restrictions and calls by health and government officials for people to stay home.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance on Thursday urging Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving. But millions of Americans will still travel over the holiday week.

AAA forecasts nearly 48 million travelers will drive to their destinations — representing a 4.3% drop from last year in the number of people traveling by car over the holiday period, which AAA defines as Wednesday to Sunday.

Air travel is expected to see its largest one-year decrease on record for Thanksgiving, a nearly 48% drop, with just 2.4 million travelers expected to fly, according to the organization.

Julio Perez, a mechanical engineer from Palm Bay, Florida, expects to be among those flying. He has a Delta flight to Atlanta on Monday to see his mother.

“I’ll be taking sanitary wipes in a zip lock bag to clean surfaces and not touch door handles while at the airport. I will also be wearing a mask the whole time. Good thing the trip is only 1.5 hours of flight time,” he wrote in a message to CNN.

An ‘individual choice’

While air travel volume has been gutted by the pandemic, aviation officials are expecting that the holiday could set a pandemic-era passenger record.



a street filled with lots of traffic: AAA expects 95% of travelers to go by car this year.

© Alex Wong/Getty Images
AAA expects 95% of travelers to go by car this year.

The Transportation Security Administration expects that Thanksgiving numbers will be “relatively consistent” with the end of the long Columbus Day weekend when more than a million people flew on Sunday, October 18, marking the first time passenger numbers topped 1 million since March.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske said he expects the busiest travel days will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day and the Sunday afterward.

Aviation leaders called Thanksgiving travel an “individual choice” in a briefing on Thursday.



a person wearing a hat talking on a cell phone: Passengers wait in line at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on October 19, the day after the total number of passengers screened by the TSA in a day reached one million for the first time since March.

© Scott Olson/Getty Images
Passengers wait in line at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on October 19, the day after the total number of passengers screened by the TSA in a day reached one

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