Storm, crowds to make flying messy
28.5 million Americans predicted to go by air for long Thanksgiving break
Whether you’re coming or going, air travel to and from the Bay Area over the Thanksgiving holiday promises to get a little messy.
Maybe not “2016 messy,” when storms and record numbers of passengers snarled the region’s transit hubs, but messy nonetheless — there’s a new storm expected on the West Coast to start the week. But in the Bay Area this year, with some schools taking the entire week off, the getaway is starting early.
Airlines for America, the main trade group for U.S. airlines, is predicting that 28.5 million Americans will fly over a 12-day period around the holiday, an increase of 3 percent over last year. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is supposed to be the busiest travel day, with about 2.9 million people flying, according to the group.
But not so at San Francisco International Airport. Friday was expected to be the busiest day of the holiday season at San Francisco International Airport, with the airport bracing for upward of 169,000 travelers.
“It’s a big change,” SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said. “Historically, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was the biggest day of the year, but with schools now giving the entire week off, we’re seeing people take the whole week.”
Between Friday and Nov. 27, about 256,000 travelers are expected to fly out of San Jose airport, a 16 percent increase compared to last year. Oakland airport is anticipating 450,000 arriving, departing and connecting travelers over the same period, an 8 percent increase compared to last year.
Nearly 51 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles away from home for Thanksgiving, according to the American Automobile Association, which also represents a small increase over 2016.
And here’s where it gets a little bit ugly for the Bay Area:
Although Sunday to Tuesday may offer the best national travel weather we’ll see for awhile, AccuWeather meteorologists said, “The only major exception will be the approach of a new storm from the Pacific that will spread some rain and high country snow into the Northwest. Seattle will be the major airport most affected by the new storm on Sunday.”
And then, it’s our turn: “The rain will shift southward into San Francisco during Sunday night and Monday morning.”
So travelers hoping to fly out of San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose for
the start of a long Thanksgiving break back East or down South should brace for storms and flight delays.
In fact, we all got a taste of that on Thursday when an ”atmospheric river” storm system and low clouds led to 37 flight cancellations, and hundreds of delays at San Francisco airport, mostly affecting shorthaul flights up and down the West Coast.
Meanwhile, things were calmer Friday afternoon at the Oakland and San Jose international airports.
“We were actually quite surprised,” said 46-year-old Los Gatos resident Alexa Ingram-Cauchi, who along with her children William and Gabriella arrived at the San Jose airport earlier than they typically would to catch a flight to Seattle. “There was no traffic. There weren’t any lines. So we’re hoping we get through security fairly quickly.”
Sasha Dana, 18, of Menlo Park, said the experience
was similar flying out of John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana.
“It’s pretty empty,” the Chapman University student said about the San Jose airport as she waited for her mother to pick her up. “I’ve seen worse days during September and October.”
At the Oakland airport, Army reservists Timothy Sheehy and Carla Gonzalez also showed up early, but it was because they weren’t sure which flight the Army was going to put them on. After finishing training in Dublin, they were heading to Arizona for the holidays to see family.
“It’s always nice to go home and see your family,” said Sheehy, though he admitted he was not a fan of holiday travel.
AAA is projecting the Thanksgiving travel period — Wednesday to Nov. 26 — to be the busiest since 2005 with 1.6 million more people traveling by air, car, railway and water compared to
last year.
Bill Sutherland, AAA senior vice president, said, “a strong economy and labor market are generating rising incomes and higher consumer confidence, fueling a strong year for the travel industry, which will continue into the holiday season.”
People are taking advantage of the cheapest airfares in four years, the agency said.
And even though gas prices are the highest since 2014, travel by vehicle is expected to grow 3.2 percent.
Nationwide, the latest forecast models suggest that while the country’s weather pattern is much less likely to lock into a cold and stormy pattern through the Thanksgiving weekend across the Northern states, the Deep South could experience multiple days of unsettled conditions.
“Weather systems are now more likely to keep moving along, rather than stall across the northern half of the nation over the next week to 10 days,” said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams.
And Bay Area residents flying east for the holiday should keep in mind that the rest of the country will be saddled with multiple storm systems, starting Friday.
“Any rain to start the day on Wednesday in the coastal Northeast is likely to end during the morning,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.
“However, this may be enough to put some airlines behind schedule for the day and may lead to ripple effects across the nation as the day progresses.”
In other words, dear travelers, be prepared.