Thanksgiving is the time for traveling and eating turkey, and that means packed airports.

Summer is over, and the season of traveling on the holidays is upon us. The time around Thanksgiving marks a period where airports across the United States of America become crowded with passengers waiting to board their flight on their way to their turkey destination along with family, friends, and relatives. Approximately this year, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the most occupied day for air traffic. Although, the Friday before the upcoming holiday, which is six days prior, is the worst when it comes to hundreds of flights being delayed.

Junior Katie Johnson said, “Personally, I’ve been late to family gatherings. I was traveling to Iowa and while we were heading there, we were two days late. It was a nightmare, we were stuck in different airports for 26 hours. We were moved to different hotels by our airline, United Airlines, and it was a mess. There were long lines, and I feel terrible for those people because it’s miserable standing for a long time, sleeping in the airport is scary and not fun. I think on the holidays, airlines and airports should find a way to put time in between flights so people don’t miss their connections or wait for a long period”.

The 11th month of the year can be an exhausting one for airports due to the higher number of passengers each year. Delay times don’t reach their values by the number of people, as the longest delay of departure flights are within five to six days before Thanksgiving. According to ValuePenguin, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey experiences the most horrible delay times, Palm Beach International Airport in Florida coming in second place. In Nevada, the McCarren International Airport experiences the biggest rise in the ratio of delayed flights, growing by more than 21 percent.

Senior Kiara Vander Stoep said, “Honestly, you can’t really blame it on anyone. The delays are either due to weather problems or just a large number of people trying to go visit family and friends at the same time.”

Little delays, whether it’s for a few hours or it doesn’t cause you to miss any connections, usually offer passengers to reschedule their flights. However, this privilege isn’t available for long, only until a flight has been delayed for over 12 hours. An average passenger receives a big payout by saving their boarding pass and receipts then immediately contacting the airline of their choice.