US airlines brace for busiest travel day since pandemic amid Thanksgiving rush

US airlines expect to carry nearly 29 million passengers over the 2026 Thanksgiving travel weekend, with the biggest crowds due as travelers head home from family celebrations.

American Airlines has scheduled 7,021 flights for November 29, its busiest day since the pandemic, while United said it expects about 600,000 passengers that day.

Airlines for America expects November 29 and 30 to be the two busiest days of the 11-day period that begins November 20. US carriers are offering an average of 38,000 more seats per day than they did over Thanksgiving last year, according to the trade group.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2025 was the busiest day the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had ever recorded. TSA screened more than 3.13 million people at US airports on November 30, more than twice the 1.56 million who passed through checkpoints on Thanksgiving Day. Nearly 2.9 million more passed through security on December 1.

Los Angeles International (LAX) handled the most checkpoint traffic during the seven days around Thanksgiving last year. About 689,000 people went through security at LAX, followed by 647,000 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International (JFK), 603,000 at Atlanta (ATL) and 598,000 at Chicago O’Hare (ORD), according to TSA figures.

American and its regional partners expect more than 8 million passengers across nearly 85,000 flights between November 19 and December 1. The schedule includes 4% more flights than last Thanksgiving.

At midday on November 29, American said it expects to have 1,130 flights in the air at once.

United expects to carry more than 6.6 million passengers over the same 13 days. Its outbound rush peaks earlier than travelers might expect. United forecasts more than 540,000 passengers on Friday, November 20, six days before Thanksgiving. Its November 29 forecast puts another 60,000 people on its flights for the trip home.

Booking platform Hopper put the average domestic round-trip fare for travelers returning November 29 at $604, a hefty premium over the same flights at less busy times of the year.

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