Flight delays, higher prices complicate holiday weekend travel

Memorial Day travelers faced widespread flight delays Thursday across the country, but there were few canceled flights, raising hopes that Friday’s bigger crowds won’t have the same experience.

By Thursday evening, more than 6,000 flights had been delayed on the East Coast. All three major airports in the New York City area and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport experienced the most delays, The Associated Press noted.

Memorial Day weekend, which marks the unofficial start to the summer, will set off a summer surge of travel. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicts this Memorial Day weekend will be the busiest in travel since 2010.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials expect Friday to be the busiest travel day of the long weekend, with nearly 3 million passengers going through airports.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement the agency is “more than ready” to handle the expected increase in travelers this summer.

TSA said early Friday that 2,897,417 individuals were screened at airport checkpoints nationwide Thursday, marking the second-highest screening volume in its history.

Meanwhile, almost 44 million travelers are expected to go at least 50 miles using some other form of transportation, AAA said.

Paula Twidale, the senior vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement that the organization hasn’t seen Memorial Day travel numbers “like these in almost 20 years.”

While travelers may experience busier-than-normal airports, they also are seeing higher than average prices on other expenses to travel.

Larisa Latimer, of Illinois, told the AP that her airfare was reasonable, but the price of her rental car “is up” and her hotel accommodations in New Orleans were “very unusually expensive.”

Kathy Larko, of Florida, told the news service she was conscious about the price of her trip to Chicago and is staying further out of the city to get a lower hotel rate. She’s also flying out a day later than intended to lower the flight cost.