Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters that his department is expecting a record-setting Thanksgiving travel season across the United States and elaborated on how his department has worked to ensure passengers will have a better travel experience.
“While there, of course, some factors that affect travel, especially the weather, that are truly out of anybody’s control, we can take, and have taken a number of steps to make travel better, the efficiency of flights themselves,” he said at a Nov. 21 press conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Those steps, Buttigieg said, include investing billions of dollars into infrastructure and logistical improvements like more efficient security checks and baggage claims, and the construction of entirely new terminals. They also include expanded passenger protections, such as ensuring automatic refunds for delays, cancellations, and lost luggage, eliminating junk fees for family flying, probing points devaluation by the airlines, and scrutinizing airlines’ privacy policies.
Buttigieg was joined by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Mike Whitaker and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske, who both noted their agencies’ readiness for the annual nationwide gauntlet.
Pekoske echoed the TSA’s earlier announcements that it is expecting to screen 18.3 million passengers between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2. Thanksgiving Day is Nov. 28. The agency expects 2.8 million passengers on Nov. 26, 2.9 million on Nov. 27, and more than 3 million on Dec. 1. This is a six percent increase from 2023 Thanksgiving travel, and further adds to a year that has included the 10 busiest days in the TSA’s 23-year history.
The busiest day so far for the TSA was recorded on July 7, when it screened 3 million passengers in a day for the first time.
Whitaker told members of the press that his administration’s air traffic controllers would be ready to handle the heavy traffic.
“Our thousands of air traffic professionals are ready for the increased volume this week and through the holiday season, we’re closely watching the weather, which is, of course, the biggest source of delays, and we'll do our best to work around that,” Whitaker said.
“We don’t have any conclusions, but the reason that investigation is happening is because we were bombarded with complaints and reports on everything from Delta passengers being unable to get somebody on the phone for hours and hours after being stranded and concerns about what they were told about their right to a refund,” he said. “I want to emphasize, any airline, especially since the FAA reauthorization passed, any airline that failed to proactively offer refunds to passengers could be in violation of federal law.”
The transportation secretary also asked all would-be passengers to treat flight crew and other airport employees with respect.
“Since the pandemic, harassment and even attacks hit unprecedented highs,” he said. “Those incidents are down from those peaks, but any number other than zero is intolerable. That kind of behavior puts everyone in the plane at risk, and it can result in major fines, jail time, or both. We take these incidents seriously. We refer them directly to the Department of Justice, so please treat your flight crew with the respect that they deserve.”
