A slightly lower possibility of storms disrupting travel heading into the holiday weekend is good news for July Fourth travelers.
But the recent mishaps have shown that if severe storms happen again, the nation's air travel system will have a hard time getting people to their destinations on time.
And this weekend, there could be a record number of summer travelers.
In the coming days, AAA expects about 51 million individuals to travel 50 miles or more from home, up 4% from 2022 and setting a new milestone for the holiday.
The increase in both car and air travel volume is predicted to be unprecedented: AAA expects 4.17 million individuals to fly to their destinations for Independence Day weekend, an increase of 11.2% over 2022 and 6.6% over 2019. The percentage of air travelers is 8.2 percent - the highest in nearly 20 years.
We ve never projected travel numbers this high for Independence Day weekend, Mr. Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement. Despite fewer overall flights and higher airfares, consumers are not cutting back on travel this summer.