ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Record-breaking travel numbers from Thanksgiving helped make sure airports were just as prepared for holiday travel to wrap up 2024. AAA estimates close to 120,000,000 U.S. residents will travel at least 50 miles between Dec. 21 and New Year’s Day. That would be the most in five years.
“We're prepared for an uptick in travelers,” Andy Moore, director of Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester Airport, said. “But just try to get here a little bit early and just be patient. Everybody wants a seamless holiday season with flying.”
One thing different about this holiday: most kids have the full two weeks off from school this year. That means more trips will be taken spread out so less passengers will be in the airport at one time.
“Some people will leave early like tomorrow and stay through the Christmas holiday. Other people leave after Christmas Day, after Dec. 25 and then go to New Year's, or a little bit after New Year's. So it will spread out over the two-week period,” Moore explained. “Being that we've got a two-week school break, we're not really expecting any extremely busy days. They will be busy, but nothing like Thanksgiving. We had the highest numbers over the Thanksgiving week that we haven't seen in probably seven or eight years. Even higher than pre-pandemic, pre-COVID days back in 2018, 2019. Our numbers in 2024 were better than they were back then. So we won't really have that this time around just because everything's spread out with the two-week holiday.”
Kristin Little saw her son off to his flight to Atlanta, Georgia Friday morning, which is something he does every year. This year didn’t seem to be any different.
“It doesn’t look as busy as I thought it was going to be, but Rochester isn’t as bad as Syracuse, which is why we took the drive out here,” Little said. “The road we took the thruway here was pretty clear. Honestly we got a parking spot in the parking garage pretty fast.”
However, a longer winter break also created the opportunity for travelers to go to destinations that are further away. Jason and Laura Elke’s family are going to Puerto Rico for their holiday traditions. Violeta Pirevas is returning home to Spain in between her semesters. David Gorman is traveling for his first time during the holiday season for a mission trip to Finland. And Ellen White rotates her family trips for the holidays every year. This year, she’d heading to Fairbanks, Alaska.
“One hour from here to Detroit, and then two hours hour flights after that. So I don’t get in until 12:30 a.m. their time tonight, which is I think 4:30 our time,” White laughed.
The airport recommends arriving at least an hour and a half before your flight, especially if you have to check a piece of luggage for your trip. They also suggest keeping an eye on your airline for time changes or weather delays.
“I left early from the Bath Hammondsport area so that I could get all the way up here at a nice, slow pace. And I saw three accidents on the way up, but most of them were on the off-ramps, so be very careful on the off-ramps,” White said. “I have to drive around in Alaska, which is more snow and ice. But growing up in New York state, I think I'm prepared.”
“I always recommend that people check with their airline, make sure flights are on time, even though weather here may be great, weather in other parts of the country may impact that airplane getting to Rochester. So check with your airline regularly and then give yourself at least an hour and a half to get to the airport,” Moore advised. “You don't want to rush things. You don't want to be overstressed. We want anxiety levels as low as possible. We have a lot of amenities here at the airport, so just give yourself a little extra time and be patient with the travel.”
More tips from the airport: visit tsa.gov for the full list of guidelines on what you can and cannot fly with.