FAA: Tuesday is busiest day for flights during Thanksgiving Week

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Millions of people will take a flight somewhere to be with loved ones this week. Many people may think Wednesday is the busiest day at airports during Thanksgiving, but the Federal Aviation Administration says Tuesday is actually the busiest.

You can see from this tweet that more than 48,000 flights are scheduled across the country for Tuesday. That number drops to more than 45,000 flights on Wednesday. The next highest total of the week comes Sunday, when a lot of people fly back home. The FAA says there are nearly 47,000 flights scheduled that day.

Sky Harbor Airport Officials say around 1,200 flights typically land and take off from Phoenix daily. That number rises during holiday weeks. Thankfully for passengers, security wait times ranged from just a few minutes up to twenty minutes on Tuesday.

Many people travel to other parts of the United States to be with family. You can see the most common flight routes in this tweet from the FAA. The East Coast is where most planes come and go from, but Phoenix is a popular starting or ending point.

If you are worried about getting to your flight on time, you can print your boarding pass ahead of time. You could also download or save your boarding pass to your phone.

Your method of getting to the airport can also be a time-saver. You can also park or get dropped off at the Sky Train stop at 44th Street and Washington. Then, ride the Sky Train right over to terminal three or four. That could make it easier to avoid the traffic and all the people being dropped off at the terminal.

Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.