PennDOT, Pittsburgh International Airport gearing up for Thanksgiving travel

PITTSBURGH — From the roads to the skies, the days before and after Thanksgiving are some of the busiest travel days of the year.

A record number of people are expected to travel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike or fly through Pittsburgh International Airport.

Whitney Wilson flew in Tuesday from Kansas City and said she was shocked by how smoothly her travel plans went. She had booked last minute and had already looked up newly implemented rules just in case things went wrong.

“Nothing was delayed it was great, really smooth, awesome,” Wilson said.

According to a new federal law that went into effect in October, airlines must give customers automatic refunds if their flight is delayed by three hours for domestic travel or six hours for international flights.

There is also a baggage delay refund.

“I think it’s great, I’m glad that it’s implemented now so just in case,” Wilson said.

Officials say Sunday is expected to be the busiest day at Pittsburgh International with upwards of 38,000 passengers. Tuesday was also extremely busy with large early-morning crowds

Ben Popko told us that over the past week, the airport has been busier than usual, on Friday he experienced long lines, and his flight leaving Pittsburgh to New Jersey was delayed.

“My flight was delayed for four hours, but the United people were super helpful. They let me change my flight for free and upgraded my seat,” Popko said.

This time, he got to the airport early.

“I got to the airport two and a half hours early expecting the long crowds and I was through security in 10 minutes,” Popko said.

Those traveling by car are also anticipating longer trips and an increase in patrol.

Locally, PennDOT is estimating that 3.4 million drivers are expected to travel on the Turnpike starting Tuesday through Sunday.

PennDOT shared that last year at this time there were 1,000 alcohol-related crashes. They are advising travelers to be safe and obey the law.

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