An estimated 43 million Americans are expected to travel today to visit family and friends for Thanksgiving, making it one of the busiest travel days of the year. However, major airport strikes in several cities may make Thanksgiving travel that much more stressful.
According to ABC News, strikes will affect Los Angeles' LAX, Chicago's O'Hare airport and New York's JFK.
In Los Angeles, airport union workers are expected to strike Wednesday morning over disputes with airport officials about terminated union contracts and family healthcare insurance. Martin Terrones, Communications Coordinator for SEIU United Service Workers West, told LA Weekly, "It's not really a strike or a walkout, but it is going to be an action none the less."
LA Weekly reported around 1,200 workers will march down Century Boulevard to Sepulveda Wednesday at noon. Terrones added, "Airport workers who have that day off, or airport workers who are getting off shift or start a shift later on will be participating, but the workers that are currently on the clock will not be walking off."
The march, however, is expected to cause some traffic delays by the airport. The Los Angeles Times reported that LAX warned travelers on Monday to add an additional 90 minutes to their travel time for Wednesday.
However, those traveling by plane won't be the only ones affected this Thanksgiving holiday. ABC News reported at nearly 39 million travelers will be making their trips by car, leading to heavy traffic in some cities. The cities expected to have the worst traffic include: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Washington D.C.
AAA recommends traveling early, 2 p.m. at the latest, to avoid the 5 p.m. rush. AAA spokeswoman Heather Hunter told ABC News, "With today expected to be the busiest day, and many people also working, we're expecting this evening there will be a lot of congestion."
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