Dozens of delays plague one of the busiest travel days of the year

It means many people went home after celebrating the beloved holiday with family and friends.

Sunday was busy at RDU, but long TSA lines and dozens of delays meant travelers spent much more time at the airport tonight than expected.

AAA said an estimated 54 million Americans were traveling this holiday both in the air and on the roads.

Carol McConnell said it took her an hour to get through TSA.

“Today, just getting off the plane all of the associates are very busy so we had to wait even though we landed on time,” said McConnell. “We traveled last year also, but this year it seems to be much more traffic. A lot of people were still afraid of the pandemic last year so they didn’t travel by air and this year I think they’re making up for it. “

There were only a couple of cancelations Sunday, but there were 44 delays.

Jack Burke flew in from New Jersey and it also took him twice as long getting through TSA.

He was caught in peak travel time waiting for his ride home.

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“Traffic is so bad. It’s impossible to find an Uber. I’m lucky I found one," said Burke. "It took me 20 minutes just to get the app to load in Jersey. It was even worse. The airport is better here.”

RDU leaders said the airport expected to see an estimated 332,950 passengers throughout Thanksgiving week. The total represents a 14% increase compared to 2019.

RDU said it was fully staffed to help with that increase.