Delta keeps an eye on busy Thanksgiving holiday, 4.85 million customers expected

By the time the Thanksgiving holiday wraps up next Monday, Delta is expected to have flown more than 4.85 million people — many infrequent flyers — to visit loved ones at hundreds of destinations around the world. The airline will fly more than 46,000 mainline and Delta Connection flights from Saturday, Nov. 18 through Monday, Nov. 27.

Once again, the Sunday after Thanksgiving is expected to be the busiest of the weeklong period with nearly 5,800 departures and more than 600,000 customers flying that day.

Delta’s holiday planning began several months ago as the airline kicked into high gear its efforts to keep customers moving through the travel stream. At major hub airports across the system, Delta has increased staffing on peak days to ease the check-in process, including deploying the airline’s volunteer Peach Corps in Atlanta, something Delta has done for the last several years.

Meanwhile, Delta’s dedicated team of expert meteorologists have been keeping a close eye on any possible trouble spots, though as of Tuesday evening, the forecast through the holiday weekend looks fairly quiet. No major storms are expected across the continental U.S. through the weekend.