Thanksgiving Eve at Philadelphia International Airport with travel rebounding from last year

It’s an exciting time for travelers who missed holidays with family last year because of the COVID pandemic.

PHILADELPHIA - After so many people spent last Thanksgiving at home due to the pandemic, holiday travel is back in full swing.

It’s an exciting time for travelers who missed holidays with family last year because of the pandemic. With more people vaccinated and travel open, people like Susan Phillips decided to fly home from Utah where she is a teacher. She's visiting her parents in Williamstown New Jersey. She says getting here on Thanksgiving Eve wasn’t too bad.

"At Salt Lake City International Airport, it was fine. TSA was great. The longest line was probably the Starbucks line. Well they say the travel was going to be crazy with traffic and everything so it’s to be expected," said Susan.

Her father, Robert, drove here to pick her up. He waited with Susan and others picking up their bags hoping traffic on the roads would be less hectic than before he arrived.

"It's bad. 295 north all the lanes are stopped so hopefully it will be cleared up by now," he said.

The Maxwell brothers were also waiting at baggage claim and for their dad to arrive from Kennett Square to pick them up. They wondered if he was stuck in traffic.

"He’s probably lost in it somewhere," they joked.

Austin and Gavin flew home tonight from college to visit their parents and say from the sound of it the airport was better than the roads.

"It was actually super smooth. There are a lot fewer people than I expected. Security was easy in Salt Lake. We got here pretty easily," said Austin. AAA says 4.2 million people will fly this Thanksgiving. That’s up 8% from last year.