BOISE, Idaho — AAA is projecting busier roads for Thanksgiving, and a 50% decline of travelers at the airport.
As coronavirus cases continue to surge throughout Idaho and across the nation, medical experts are urging people to celebrate safely by spending the holiday only with people in their same household.
The recommendation isn't stopping millions of Americans, and a couple hundred thousand Idahoans, who are expected to travel.
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, AAA is projecting that travel will drop 10% compared to last year. If that projection holds true, it would be the largest single-year drop off in more than a decade.
That said, Thanksgiving travel is still expected to be busy.
“Many airports are seeing an increase in travel than what they had previously seen the month before,” Boise Airport spokesperson Sean Briggs said.
According to Briggs, year-over-year air traffic at the Boise Airport is down nearly 50% because of the pandemic.
Thanksgiving will be more of the same even though it is normally one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
“It’s nowhere near those 2019 levels and we expect the Boise airport to mirror the trends happening across the nation,” Briggs said.
Most Americans and Idahoans will be traveling by car this year instead of flying.
“95% of them will travel by car,” AAA Idaho spokesperson Matthew Conde said. “People want to have that personal bubble, but the truth is even that this year may not be enough.”
The last time Thanksgiving travel dropped significantly was in 2008 during the Great Recession. This year, the drop is due to guidance from health experts who say it's not safe to spend Thanksgiving with extended family and friends who live outside the same household.
“That's the main reason people are pumping the brakes and saying maybe I need to stay closer to home,” Conde said.
Anyone flying out of the Boise Airport should know that masks are still required, and a face shield won't cut it.
“When you are in the terminal, going through a TSA checkpoint, boarding an aircraft and on an aircraft, you're required to wear masks throughout the entire time,” Briggs said.
People should also try to social distance - whether it's in a security line or at baggage claim. The airport is also encouraging people to practice good hygiene and to try to arrive early because things may not move as quickly with COVID-19 precautions in place.
The weekend before Thanksgiving is usually the busiest travel day, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday. However, Briggs said to expect the unexpected.
“That's a typical year, we don't know what it's going to look like in 2020,” he said.
Conde told KTVB that since so many people are working from home, many may choose to catch an early flight.
Access is also limited to the airport under the city's new health order. Essentially, people are only allowed to be at the airport if they’re flying, picking someone up, or dropping them off. The airport is asking for pickups and dropoffs to happen curbside to reduce the number of people in the terminal at one time.
When it comes to the roads, AAA expects Tuesday night to be the busiest.
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