SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Travelers at Burlington International Airport experienced varying degrees of delays and smooth journeys as they returned home or departed after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Triple-A predicted Thanksgiving time would be the busiest time to travel by road and air, but conditions at Burlington airport remained relatively calm despite scattered flight delays.
Gary Barber and his wife, visiting Vermont for the first time, reported a positive experience as they headed home to Savannah, Georgia.
“We’re doing really well here skipping down the east coast going back to Savannah and I think there will be no delays and it’s been a really good experience,” Barber said.
Steve Kieselstein of Burlington returned home with minimal issues, though his pre-Thanksgiving trip to New York required extra time.
“We took off about an hour and a half late but it was kind of changing weather they had to de-ice the plane a couple times so it was understandable,” Kieselstein said.
The airport showed scattered flight delays ranging from a few minutes to several hours, with planes arriving late to Burlington causing the disruptions.
Zach and Sloane Pritchett faced a 30-minute delay on their flight to Denver, which shortened their layover time to Los Angeles.
“I think we’ve got like 15-20 minutes to make the connection so hopefully we do or we’ll go skiing in Vail,” Zach Pritchett said.
The Los Angeles residents said Burlington’s travel conditions compared favorably to their home airport.
“Compared to Los Angeles this is pretty easy we’re probably going into the beehive in a couple hours,” Pritchett said.
Elizabeth Hagelberg and her family from Johnson City, Tennessee, experienced delays on both legs of their Vermont holiday trip. Their Sunday departure to Philadelphia was delayed four hours.
“Trying to get a different route so we can get home instead of tomorrow,” Hagelberg said.
Airport staff reported higher traveler volumes for Thanksgiving compared to typical winter weekends, though numbers remained below peak fall or summer levels.
