SAN DIEGO — Thanksgiving Day is only days away, and holiday travelers are bracing for major delays as dangerous storms pose a threat to Thanksgiving plans for tens of millions of Americans.
In Southern California, and in San Diego, a record number of holiday travelers are expected to take to the skies and roadways. According to some travel experts, Monday was the best day to fly for Thanksgiving as the closer Thursday gets, the more impacted travel is expected to get.
Grace Trinh arrived in San Diego happy she escaped an impending blizzard in December.
“We were on the last few flights out. All flights tomorrow are cancelled,” she said.
Grace and her family are among the lucky ones as more than 50 million people from California to Michigan are under winter weather alerts as the first of two monster winter storms heading east started de-railing holiday travelers not just in the skies but also on the roads.
AAA expects record breaking driving delays through the nation on Wednesday.
"We are seeing a near record number of travelers this week,” said AAA’s Doug Shupe.
According to Doug, 4.3 million southern Californians will be hitting the roads this holiday.
Those flying in and out of San Diego Tuesday should be aware of a labor dispute with American Airlines that could compound travel headache even more.
Starting at 2 p.m., Tuesday, catering workers demanding higher wages will be holding a protest at San Diego International airport. San Diego workers will be joined by thousands of other workers nationwide, including Los Angeles International Airport.
While not here in San Diego yet, the federal government is testing out new security screening measures that could expedite travelers’ passage through the airport.
One of those screening measures includes a “digital dog nose” that can better detect homemade explosives. Another security measure includes new identification readers that can scan licenses – allowing passengers to skip the need to show a boarding pass. Also, advanced CT scanners will allow passengers to keep electronics, and eventually liquids in carry-ons as they go through security.
The new technology is currently being tested out in Las Vegas before becoming a reality nationwide by 2022.