Although the Fourth of July may still be five days away, the Federal Aviation Administration expects Thursday to be the busiest day for air travel for the holiday weekend.
At Logan International Airport in Boston, lines at Terminal A were already picking up significantly during the 5 a.m. hour Thursday.
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These crowds of travelers were not unexpected at Logan, though, ahead of the extended Independence Day holiday weekend. In fact, AAA said that more than 50 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this weekend, which would be a record.
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The travel headaches over recent days haven't helped — since Sunday, there have been more than 7,000 flights canceled. The airlines are still playing catch up as they rebook people on those flights as the weekend arrives.
Travel experts said that it was the perfect storm of bad weather across the country and staffing shortages, especially in Air Traffic Control.
Travelers, meanwhile, said that they think airlines need to do better.
“I think that they need to hire more people in my opinion," one traveler said. "That’s one of the things we’ve noticed the most is when we do land, a lot of times, we’re delayed on the tarmac for at least 45 minutes trying to get someone to get us off board.”
While Thursday is expected to be the busiest air travel day of this holiday weekend, Friday is anticipated to be the busiest day on the roads, so consider allowing extra time while getting to your destination.
