Travel experts say despite the usual year-end traffic rebound, the worst is over as long-distance Thanksgiving commuters head home this weekend.
Los Angeles International Airport said in a written statement that an estimated 206,000 passengers are expected to pass through its gates on Sunday, down from a peak of 222,000 on Sunday before the holiday. The number of returning travelers after Thanksgiving is at or slightly below the daily average in September and October, according to passenger data released by the airport.
Commercial aircraft tracking sites show only moderate flight delays in Los Angeles, unlike airports such as Newark, Palm Beach and Tampa. The FAA reported that a huge number of flights of planes that landed on Sunday occurred for more than 30 to 45 minutes. Travelers arriving and departing from Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, experienced flight delays of nearly three hours on average.
The Automobile Club of Southern California predicts that 6.58 million Southern Californians will take to the roads or planes over Thanksgiving weekend in a travel window that extends into the Monday morning commute.
Inrix, a travel data company whose analysis AAA uses to create its forecasts, estimates that roads will be least congested Monday before 8 a.m. and after 7 p.m. in parts of the country, including Houston. While traffic is still at its peak in the region, Inrix calculated Los Angeles drivers in the region experienced their worst car conditions on Wednesday before the holiday.
“Holiday travel forecasts remain above pre-pandemic levels all year long, including this year’s Thanksgiving. If this is any indication of what’s to come, the holiday travel season will also be very busy. ” David Shupe, corporate communications manager for the Los Angeles-based AAA office, said Sunday. “The Auto Club encourages travelers to work with their travel advisors and plan ahead.”
A slight drop in gasoline prices spurred a surge in traffic. The average price for a gallon of regular-grade fuel in California as of Sunday was $4.21, down a few pennies from earlier in the week and well below the 2023 average of $4.83, AAA reports.
Of course, that’s significantly higher than the national average of $3.05.
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