BOISE, Idaho — As the 4th of July holiday is just a few hours away, we continue to see flights and busy roads across the country. A record-breaking number of travelers is expected this Independence Day travel period.
According to local travel experts, nearly 51 million Americans, including 219,000 of Idahoans, are taking a trip.
This holiday over 2 million more people are traveling compared to last year, surpassing the previous 4th of July record of 49 million travelers.
“Thankfully we are to the point where a lot of the heavy travel has already happened because people are traveling over the long weekend," said Matthew Conde, AAA Communications Director.
The second busiest travel day for the long weekend is July 5th. If you're heading out for the final couple of days of this extended weekend, travel experts recommend leaving early to avoid heavy traffic. But if you are traveling by air. They suggest arriving 2 to 3 hours before departure.
"It was delayed, and then another text it was delayed, and then another text it was deleted; it was an ongoing process," said Todd Sims, traveling from Chicago.
Todd Sims was just one of the millions of Americans traveling this weekend impacted by delayed flights. FlightAware tracked nearly 24,000 U.S.. delayed flights over the weekend.
The Boise Airport had nearly 80 delayed flights.
Sims tells the Idaho News 6 team so far his flight back to Chicago is on track, but just to be safe, he arrived 2 hours before departure and is traveling before the expected travel period following the 4th, while avoiding flights with layovers.
" Almost all of our flights are direct flights, which help to mitigate those problems," said Sims.
With more than 4 million Americans flying this week, airlines are addressing congestion, rising costs, and a pilot shortage by turning to bigger planes that fit more passengers
If you are expecting to park at the Boise Airport, staff suggest you go to the ifly Boise Website to get a more accurate indication of how many parking spots are currently available.
