PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Holiday travelers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport this weekend found smoother conditions than expected as the busy Christmas travel season began.
“Honestly not bad,” said one traveler arriving from Colorado. “It’s actually been surprisingly well.”
Another passenger expressed similar surprise at the manageable crowds. “I’m surprised it’s less busy than I expected but I’ve never been here at Christmas time but I thought it would be very, very busy,” they said.
The pleasant conditions come as AAA anticipates a busy holiday travel rush with 8 million people expected to fly domestically. According to AAA, that number would be a record-breaking figure.
Sunday’s travelers were grateful they avoided the worst of the rush. “I feel like it’s nice that there is a couple days leading up to Christmas. I feel a lot of people flying in this weekend, but they’re probably a lot of people coming in on the 23rd and pushing that into the week. So hopefully that means it’s a little spread out and less crazy,” said Jade Iseri-Ramos.
Some flights in northern states were grounded for a couple of hours due to cold, snow and windy conditions. But the minor weather delays didn’t ruin plans for travelers heading to Arizona.
“I’m really excited to be — you know I’m from Wisconsin, so enjoy the warm weather and get out of the snow for a while and do a bit of hot tubing and maybe a cold plunge in the pool,” said Alex Iseri-Ramos.
They’re remaining optimistic about their return flight.
“We’re flying back Jan. 2 so we’re hoping we miss it on the way back but we’ll see,” they said.
According to AAA, the holiday travel rush should wrap up on Jan. 1.
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