Blizzard cancels flights, but air travel expected to break records on busiest day of the year

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Airlines are predicting record breaking travel numbers this Thanksgiving holiday weekend with the busiest day falling on Sunday.

This comes despite blizzard conditions in the Midwest forcing the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights.

With a honk and a hug millions wrapped their Thanksgiving holiday with a flight.

"It wasn't bad. Got to the airport in San Diego, it was beautiful, no lines, no security, no nothing, got right here, and walked on out," said Diane Kahn, a Marin resident.

The Sunday following Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year. The Transportation Security Administration estimates 2.7 million people will have flown Sunday. That's a crunch that was felt by college student Clifford Haywood.

"I tried to come back this morning, but there were an awful lot of people, which made me late for my flight going through TSA," said Haywood, a Notre Dame de Namur University student.

After being stuck in San Diego this morning with three flight delays, he's now at SFO and not likely to brave the busy travel weekend next year.

"Probably not just because it's way too busy and I've just got things to do," said Haywood.

Why is Sunday worse than the rest?

"Just my personal perspective, I think people want to get the most out of traveling and being with their loved ones," said Maria Buico, San Francisco International Airport Duty Manager.

Buico would know as she's worked in the airline industry for decades.

"It's definitely a busy day today. We anticipate about 80-thousand travelers departing SFO today," said Buico.

The Bay Area is not the problem if you look at the Misery Map on the travel web site flightaware.com. Delays and cancellations are due to blizzard conditions in the Midwest.

Bay area resident Kyle Defouw barely beat the storm leaving Chicago.

"The flight came in about an hour and a half late and then there was maintenance for maybe an hour and then we had to hop on to another terminal for a different flight," said Defouw.

It's best to check with your airline carrier for delays. If you're already planning next year's holiday travel keep in mind Thanksgiving day may be the easiest day to fly during the long holiday weekend.