Record-breaking travelers expected at Phoenix Sky Harbor Thanksgiving week

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A record number of people are expected to travel for Thanksgiving this week.

AAA expects about 80 million travelers, up from the record set last year. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport officials say people should arrive at least two hours early and check their flight status before leaving home.

If you plan to drive to see family or friends, Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to be the busiest days on the roads.

RELATED: Arizona freeway listed among most dangerous roads during Thanksgiving

“We are going to be busy,” Sky Harbor spokesperson Heather Shelbrack said.

Airlines are gearing up for their busiest Thanksgiving travel period yet. Sophia Philis-Ortiz with the American Airlines hub in Phoenix says they started planning for this week back in summer.

“We prepare by ensuring we have appropriate staff hired and trained. We also meet with our business partners to ensure they are ready, and that our aircraft facilities are prepared to welcome our customers,” she said.

According to AAA, 79.9 million people are expected to travel this week. More than 71 million will travel by car, which is 1.3 million more than last year, and close to 6 million will travel by plane, up 2% from last year and a nearly 11% increase over 2019 before the pandemic.

“We’re really excited to serve 300 daily peak departures to over 100 destinations,” Philis-Ortiz said.

TSA officials want travelers to stay vigilant because it is a very busy travel week. They’re warning people about a TSA PreCheck scam in your email. People are posing as the agency, sending emails asking for money for an application fee. To avoid scammers impersonating TSA PreCheck, click here.

“TSA or any government agency will never contact you to ask for your personal information to include date of birth, social security information or payment information,” TSA spokesperson Patricia Mancha said. “We do not send out solicitation emails. We recommend you don’t click on any links if you don’t know who the sender is.”

If you’re planning to hit the road this week, the best time is Thanksgiving Day itself for less traffic.

DPS continues to push for safety after a deadly holiday week on the roads last year. There were 15 traffic deaths statewide, four of which were connected to drunk drivers.

“We will be here around the clock,” Sergeant Eric Andrews with the Department of Public Safety said. “Don’t drive impaired, don’t drive distracted, reduce your speed and wear your seatbelt. Those four things will reduce collisions and reduce injuries that may occur during a collision.”

Nationwide, the average gas price is $3.05, which is down from $3.26 at this time last year. However, Arizona’s average gas price is higher than the national average.

Airport workers in Charlotte, North Carolina, went on strike this morning, demanding better pay. Only a handful of flights were canceled, but Sky Harbor officials say this did not and will not impact operations.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.