O’Hare expected to have its busiest Labor Day travel period in history

Matthew and Jennifer Harvey had their luggage and two children, ages 3 and nearly 1, at O'Hare Airport on Wednesday morning, as they prepared to check in for their flight to Denver.

The Bridgeport residents were unaware of the record number of air travelers expected over the Labor Day weekend.

They said their car ride to the airport, thanks to a family member, was smooth and they looked forward to spending more than a week in Denver for a wedding.

“We are ready for the chaos of traveling with two little ones,” Matthew Harvey said of the family’s first flight together.

Had they done anything special to prepare for the flight? “Lots of snacks,” Jennifer Harvey said.

O’Hare expects its busiest Labor Day travel period in history, with an estimated 1.44 million passengers from Thursday to Tuesday, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. That’s 10.2% more passengers than last year and 5.9% more than Labor Day weekend in 2019, which was the busiest year on record for O’Hare.

Monday will be the busiest day at O’Hare with more than 270,000 people traveling through the airport, the CDA said in a Thursday news release.

O’Hare and Midway will welcome nearly 1.75 million passengers over the Labor Day travel period, an 8.9% jump in combined traffic compared to last year based on initial airline projections, according to the CDA.

More than 306,000 people will transit through Midway, representing a 3% rise over the Labor Day period in 2023. Its busiest travel day will be Friday when the airport expects more than 58,000 travelers.

The uptick in travel is part of a national trend as the Labor Day travel period is expected to be the busiest on record in the U.S., according to the Transportation Security Administration. It expects more than 100,000 travelers to depart O’Hare on Friday, a TSA spokesperson said in an email.

‘Record-breaking blockbuster’

The TSA expects to screen more than 17 million people nationwide from Thursday until Sept. 4. It projects peak travel on Friday, when the agency anticipates screening 2.86 million people.

The American Automobile Association doesn't forecast Illinois travel numbers for Labor Day but said the U.S. summer travel season is a “record-breaking blockbuster.”

Annas Rahman, 32, was traveling on Wednesday with his parents from Skokie to Portland, Oregon, for his brother’s wedding.

“Traveling with parents can be stressful but because of the wedding everyone is more chipper and excited,” Rahman said. Their ride from Skokie to O’Hare that morning was uneventful.

TSA’s forecast continues a summer of air travel that is the highest the federal agency has seen in its history. Since May, it's tallied its top 10 busiest travel days on record — reaching a new milestone on July 7, when TSA officers screened more than 3 million people in one day.

“People are traveling more than ever this summer and TSA along with our airline and airport partners stand ready to close the busiest summer travel period on record during this upcoming Labor Day weekend,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement.

Over the Labor Day period, the agency expects passenger volumes nationwide to be 8.5% higher than last year. Since Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, it has screened an average of 2.7 million per day, or 239.8 million people.

On Wednesday morning, Timothy D'evon Daniels, a rap artist known as Timpmo, waited at O’Hare to be picked up ahead of his concert in Schaumburg. He had a smooth flight from Birmingham, Alabama, and said he likes Chicago so much that he'll stay in the city until Sept. 6, celebrating his birthday on Labor Day.

Timpmo planned to enjoy great food in the city, such as hot dogs and Caribbean and Indian restaurants. The rapper also highlighted Chicago’s impressive skyline. “I look forward to seeing that,” he said.

‘Farewell to summer’

Brian Oxley of Wilmette was headed to Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday morning for a business meeting. On Friday, he'll fly again to meet his wife and two children in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the weekend.

His wife will be driving to Michigan on Friday and is expecting heavy congestion. “She’s pulling the kids out of school early to beat traffic,” Oxley said.

Construction on Interstate 94 “has been a mess all summer,” he said. He estimated her drive this weekend could take up to six hours. Normally, it would be a three-hour drive to Grand Rapids, he said.

“Americans see the extended Labor Day weekend as an opportunity to say farewell to summer with one final trip,” Debbie Haas, vice president of travel for AAA — The Auto Club Group, said in a news release. “Since many kids are already back in school, regional road trips tend to be the most popular option for families. Because of that, others see this as an opportunity to travel the world, with the expectation of smaller crowds at popular sites.”