Thousands of flights were delayed and hundreds more were canceled on Black Friday, throwing a wrench into the busy holiday travel weekend.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had already expected a record-breaking 18.3 million Americans to travel by air this Thanksgiving holiday period.
"This will be the busiest Thanksgiving ever in terms of air travel. Fortunately, our staffing is also at the highest levels that they have ever been. We are ready,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said previously.
But still, 13,655 flights have been delayed internationally, including 1,188 going within, into or out of the United States as of Friday at 12 p.m. Eastern Time, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.
Moreover, 426 flights were canceled internationally today, including 25 that were set to fly within, into or out of the U.S.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in an emailed statement to Newsweek on Friday that it "safely moved more than 232,000 flights across the country between Nov. 24-28, a record number for the Thanksgiving week. More than 52,000 flights carried passengers to their destinations on Tuesday alone."
"Despite the record numbers, only 0.3 percent of flights were cancelled, and delays were a record low of 1.2 percent of flights. The FAA is ready for continued record flight volume through Monday,” it further added.
The Chicago O'Hare International Airport and the Chicago Midway International Airport had a total of 45 delays as of Friday at 12 p.m. ET.
