Iowans, If You Are Flying On this Day Prepare for Chaos

Traveling for the holidays? So are millions of people in the Midwest.

According to AAA, there will be a record-setting 8.9 million travelers from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota traveling fifty or more miles this Christmas/yearend holiday season.

“Despite various inflationary pressures, Americans are still willing to budget for travel. With a record number of travelers, the roads, airports and cruise lines will be more crowded than normal,” Debbie Haas, Vice President of Travel for AAA said in a statement.

Flights By the Numbers

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Reports from AAA, say that flight numbers all across the country will be at a record high this year. 7.5 million travelers will be heading to the airport over the course of this holiday season, which is 336,000 more than in 2022.

These officials also claim that 385,000 travelers from the West North Central Region (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska) will be traveling via airplane this year.

What Is the Worst Day to Fly Out of Iowa?

According to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the peak day for holiday travel this year all throughout the United States will be on Thursday, December 21st. Officials are estimating that 48,959 people will be flying on this day.

The days that will see the least amount of people in the sky will apparently be December 24th (25,471) and December 25th (23,419).

If you are flying, make sure you know what your specific airline is required to cover in the case of "controllable delay or cancellation" by going to FlightRights.gov. Also, don't forget to get to your airport early if you are traveling on December 21st. This will give you plenty of time to go through security.

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