Thousands endure rainy weather on busy travel day ahead of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving travel out of PHL slowed by heavy rain, wind

Philadelphia International Airport was packed with people either flying in or out for the Thanksgiving holiday while Mother Nature dished up some foul weather not just here, but across the country, causing delays and cancelations.

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia International Airport was packed with people either flying in or out for the Thanksgiving holiday while Mother Nature dished up some foul weather not just here, but across the country, causing delays and cancelations.

"Even if you are not leaving from Philly, the weather elsewhere could have an impact on your flight either getting here, so if you are picking up somebody they might be late or if your crew wasn't able to get here, It could impact your flight getting out," Public Affairs Manager of PHL, Heather Redfern, said.

This is the busiest airports have been at this time of year since 2019. Steve Giannone flew in from Atlanta to visit family in Delaware, bringing his Bengal cat, Mia, along with him.

"How was the flight," asked FOX 29’s Dawn Timmeney.

"A lot of bumps, but Mia did very well with it," Giannone replied.

"Does she usually travel with you?" Timmeney asked.

"She has more air miles than I do," Giannone jokingly answered.

Thanksgiving travel at PHL has begun

Folks arriving from out-of-town say their flights were fairly smooth and traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday has not been a hassle, despite the heavy rain.

Antoinette Anlage, formerly of Haddon Township, was glad to be back in the area.

"We’re gonna go visit family and we’re gonna go to the Eagles Buffalo game on Sunday," Anlage said.

There was a brief moment of panic when she and her husband thought they were missing a suitcase. "We have all Eagles paraphernalia in there. Jackets and so forth, probably about $700 and you can’t find it. No, no!" John Anlage explained.

Fortunately, they found it and were on their way, along with the thousands of others passing through PHL on a busy Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Airport officials were expecting about 80,000 people to travel in and out of the airport Tuesday, with the heaviest travel day Sunday, where the airport should see around 90,000 people.

Wednesday's travel conditions are expected to dramatically improve, as the rain moves out of the region, abundant sunshine, although windy conditions will prevail.