The Department of Transportation says the upcoming holiday travel season will be the busiest in U.S. history and travelers should be prepared for a busy time.
More than 55 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home for Thanksgiving.
"We want travelers to know is that there is some bad weather expected that could affect Thanksgiving travel," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
More than 55 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home for Thanksgiving.
"We want travelers to know is that there is some bad weather expected that could affect Thanksgiving travel," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 This holiday season is estimated to bring some of the busiest travel days in U.S. history,
00:06 building on a summer that was already record-breaking.
00:10 First thing we want travelers to know is that there is some bad weather expected that could
00:15 affect Thanksgiving travel.
00:18 So the FAA's command center, as usual, is working closely with airlines to plan for
00:23 and plan around any disruptive weather.
00:27 National Weather Service meteorologists are housed at the FAA's 22 centers handling high-altitude
00:32 traffic and they provide down-to-the-minute weather predictions for exact arrival and
00:37 departure routes in the busiest parts of the U.S. airspace.
00:40 We want everyone to be prepared for changes due to weather, and travelers should be checking
00:45 with their airline directly for the most up-to-date information about their flights, including
00:49 any delays or cancellations.
00:51 While we can't control the weather, we will also be using every tool at our disposal to
00:56 keep cancellations and delays as low as possible in the first place, including working collaboratively
01:00 with airlines wherever that is the appropriate approach.
01:03 If your flight gets canceled or significantly delayed for any reason, I want the traveling
01:07 public to know that you are entitled to a full cash refund if you choose to take that
01:13 refund rather than a rebooking.
01:16 And if you have trouble getting an airline to honor that agreement, that's where we can
01:20 come in.
01:21 Make sure to let us know.
01:22 Future weather may challenge airlines in the next few weeks, but so far, 2023 has seen
01:27 the lowest cancellation rate in the last five years at just 1.3%.
01:32 It's much lower than last year.
01:33 It's lower even than before the pandemic, which translates to millions more people getting
01:38 to home or getting to work or getting to their loved ones as expected.
01:42 We also permanently raise the bar on how airlines handle customer service, and we're getting
01:47 results.
01:48 Our department pushed more airlines to guarantee free family seating than ever before so that
01:53 you don't have to pay extra just to sit with your kids.
01:57 And last summer, after we pressed airlines to cover rebooking, meals, and hotel vouchers
02:02 when they caused a cancellation or delay, they changed their policies.
02:06 The traveling public, if you want to see exactly which airlines already guarantee free family
02:11 seating or what each airline offers when you are caught in a cancellation or delay that
02:18 is the responsibility of the airline, you can go to flightrights.gov for up-to-date
02:23 information.
02:24 And we found that transparency has been a very powerful tool because when we put the
02:28 airlines on notice that we were assembling this information online, within days of me
02:33 writing them to preview that website, they changed their policies in significant ways.