Officials expect uptick in holiday travel

Airline travel this Thanks- giving season is expected to approach prepandemic levels, Transportation Security Administration officials said Wednesday. The agency is preparing to handle about 20 million air passengers.

“We are staffed and prepared for the holiday trav- elers,” David Pekoske, the TSA administrator, said in a statement.

The large volume of travel- ers expected comes as inoculation rates across the country have risen, allowing many families to gather safely for the first time since 2019, when TSA screened 26 mil- lion people. The uptick also signals a willingness by people across the country to resume customary holiday travel.

“I recommend that travel- ers pay attention to the guidance that the TSA officers are providing at the check- point,” Pekoske said. “They may be directing you to a shorter line or guiding you around someone who is moving slowly. And they may be giving you some advice that will lessen the likelihood that you’ll need a pat-down.”

The busiest days during the Thanksgiving travel period are usually the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday afterward, the TSA statement said. While the travel volume this year is not expected to reach 2019 levels, the agency said it could be higher in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

The increase comes as airlines deal with an uptick in cases of unruly passen- gers. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued fines and the president of the

Association of Flight Attendants union, Sara Nelson, has blamed the rising tensions in the skies to the politically charged atmosphere over health protocols.

In an interview with CBS Mornings, Pekoske said the number of such reports are higher than he can ever recall.

“We’re working very closely with the carriers, the flight attendants, the flight deck crews, the air force and the FAA, to do everything that we can to message how dangerous this behavior is,” he said.