Short of a few naughty hiccups on Southwest Airlines, vacation travel is often fine

Conditions have been pretty good this year for travelers flying before and after Christmas, but some naughty disruptions have once again plagued Southwest Airlines fliers.

For millions of people traveling for the holidays, this year was even better Past. Put a bow on Christmas morning A relatively mild weekend.

As of Monday afternoon, only 157 flights had been canceled and 2,111 flights were delayed, according to the tracking website FlightAware.

This holiday season, American airlines are gearing up Massive waves By hiring thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other staff – passengers – in an effort to avoid the delays and cancellations that have plagued travel in 2022, The failure of Southwest Airlines More than 2 million people were stranded.

However, Southwest again experienced hiccups over the weekend, which the airline hopes to clear by Monday. According to FlightAware, 2% of flights were canceled on Monday, although 16% were delayed, totaling 693 flights.

Between Saturday and Sunday, Southwest canceled 426 flights and delayed 2,689 flights, FlightAware data shows.

A Southwest spokesman blamed thick fog in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday for preventing flights from landing, and said some additional cancellations may be needed Monday before a full recovery is expected Tuesday.

Auto Club AAA predicts that between Saturday and New Year's Day, 115 million people in the U.S. will travel at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home by plane or car. This is 2 percent more than last year.

More than 2.6 million people were screened by the Transportation Security Administration on Thursday, according to TSA records. Data for the weekend has not yet been released.

Over ThanksgivingOn Sunday, Nov. 26, the number of people traveling through U.S. airports set a record for 2019, topping pre-Covid numbers, with a single-day record of 2.9 million people screened by the TSA.

Compared to last year's holiday season, more mild weather helped keep flight schedules on time.

But on the ground, road conditions remained treacherous in parts of the country on Christmas Day, thanks to accumulations of snow and ice across the Midwest and Great Plains. Much of Nebraska and South Dakota are experiencing blizzard conditions, and parts of eastern North and South Dakota are experiencing blizzard conditions, the National Weather Service said.

According to traffic data provider INRIX, the busiest days on the road are predicted to be Saturday, December 23 and next Thursday, December 28.