Duffy, FAA say Thanksgiving holiday air travel should operate smoothly

As the Thanksgiving holiday travel rush begins, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is assuring air travelers that they likely will not face the mass delays and cancellations featured during the government shutdown.

Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration anticipates “solid staffing” throughout the airspace as emergency flight reductions have ended and air traffic controllers, technicians and federal security officers return to work in full force.

Any delays or cancellations will be “strictly based on safety,” Duffy added, noting that some rough weather is anticipated in the Seattle area and Midwest, which may impact flight volume.

Despite the weather concerns, the FAA predicts this Thanksgiving season to be the busiest in 15 years, estimating that about 31 million U.S. passengers will travel from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1. Tuesday will likely have the highest flight volume of the entire season, with more than 52,000 flights expected.

To meet the demand of roughly 2.8 million passengers a day, U.S. airlines will offer 45,000 more seats daily than in 2024, according to Airlines for America.

FAA Secretary Bryan Bedford told reporters at the DOT’s Monday news conference that airports will employ “lots of different strategies we run to manage traffic safely and efficiently in all conditions.”

“We’re looking forward to an extraordinarily successful week of travel for the tens of millions of Americans that will be flying this week,” Bedford said. “I just want to assure the traveling public that we’re ready and we’re able to get the job done…Know you should fly with confidence.”

Duffy also highlighted the DOT’s efforts to modernize the U.S. air space, arguing that the “historic” travel season “underscores the point that we need a brand-new air traffic control system.”

“To sit back and think we’re not going to have more delays or cancellations if we don’t build a new system is asinine,” the secretary said. “We got 12 and half billion dollars to start the process – we need another 19 to 20 billion dollars to complete the process…and the longer we wait the more time it takes.”

Congressional hearings have revealed how the FAA has confronted both staffing concerns and outdated traffic control infrastructure for years. Many air traffic safety systems are still relying on floppy disks and decades-old graphics, and the Government Accountability Office reported in 2024 that 37% of systems are “unsustainable.”