Alabamians spend Labor Day weekend on the roads and in the skies

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Labor Day weekend is historically a very busy travel time as many people pack in trips for that last long weekend of summer.

According to AAA, each holiday so far this year has broken previously set travel records with the trend expected to continue throughout the end of the year.

“For Labor Day this year, we are expecting a 9% increase in travel over just last year’s,” Clay Ingram with AAA Alabama said. “Which doesn’t sound like much but we typically see 1-2% increase from one year to the next. Seeing a 3, 4, even 5% is major but seeing a 9% increase over the prior year is just unheard of.”

AAA says people look at vacations now as a necessity rather than a luxury, a mindset it says is different from 10 to 15 years ago. AAA expects 2024 to surpass 2019 as the busiest travel year on record.

The Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport says from January to July this year, more than 1.8 million people have come through the terminal, which is up 7% from last year.

“It’s about 85-90% of people traveling do so by automobile and we see 10-12% by air. The remaining percentage, other modes of public transportation, trains and buses, things like that,” Ingram said. “It’s pretty equal but it’s a lot busier this year for Labor Day than we’ve ever seen it before.”

People say their travel has been pretty hit or miss for Labor Day Weekend. Some people say they got lucky and everything went smoothly and according to plan, while others drew the short end of the travel stick.

“Six extra hours instead of it being a straight flight because we had layovers,” traveler Stephanie Deason said.

Deason and her five-year-old daughter Adalynn spent Labor Day Weekend visiting family in Maryland but their trip up to the northeast was far from smooth sailing.

“On the way up here to Birmingham, our flight got canceled so we had to rush to find another flight and instead of it being a straight flight, we ended up having to go from Birmingham to Texas and Texas to Maryland, instead of just Birmingham to Maryland,” Deason said. “Then when we get to Texas, there were layovers and cancellations and all. It was just very hectic.”

Marie-Elise Diamond, who traveled to Montgomery from Washington D.C., prepared for the worst but ended up pleasantly surprised.

“I like to get to the airport early and I also came to the airport with my patience intact,” Diamond said. “The reports I saw on leaving said it’s going to be busy so I knew to be patient and I knew things might be delayed so I had my snacks, I had my water.”

AAA says if you’re planning to travel for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year, book those flights sooner rather than later.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42.