Busiest travel day of the year...

…is traditionally the day before Thanksgiving. The following Sunday is generally second. (Enough people go home on Friday or Saturday to lower Sunday’s total.) Third is Christmas Eve, and fourth is usually some day shortly after New Year’s (depending on when it falls, and whether people add the weekend to their vacation, etc.)

Well. THIS year, at least at O’Hare Airport in Chicago (still the world’s busiest – barely), the MONDAY after Thanksgiving was the busiest, bigger than the Wednesday before. The Sunday was actually quite slow. Why? Well, every year some people decided to “outsmart” the system and avoid the Sunday crowds by taking one extra day off and flying on Monday. This year, a LOT of people did that, and ran face-first into the usual Monday business crowd. (Monday generally being the busiest travel day in any week, due to all the business travellers.)

My question is: will we see a repeat on January 3, the Monday after New Year’s? I’ve already heard several friends make travel plans for that day, both to avoid crowds and to dodge any potential Y2K problems. Has anyone heard anything about this possibly being the biggest travel day of the year?

I’ve been under the impression that many people are staying home this new year. In that case, while you may have a point, I don’t think it could possible compare to Thanksgiving.

Air travel will be non-existant on 1/3/2000, because all the airplane computers won’t work. Didn’t you see that informative documentary on NBC, “Y2K”? :slight_smile: :slight_smile:


I looked in the mirror today/My eyes just didn’t seem so bright
I’ve lost a few more hairs/I think I’m going bald - Rush