Airports and highways are expected to be jam-packed during Thanksgiving week, a holiday period likely to end with another record day for air travel in the United States. AAA predicts that nearly 80 million Americans will venture at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday and next Monday, most of them by car. However, travelers could be impacted by ongoing weather challenges and those flying to their destinations could be grounded by delays brought on by airline staffing shortages and an airport service workers strike . Here's the latest: U.S. airlines are preparing for a Thanksgiving holiday rush, and so are the U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service and FedEx. Shipping companies will deliver about 2.2 billion packages to homes and businesses across the U.S. from Thanksgiving to Dec. 31, said Satish Jindel, a shipping and logistics expert and president of ShipMatrix. That’s down from 2.3 billion packages last year. Because the shopping period is a week shorter than in 2023, consumers are shopping further ahead of Black Friday and more purchases are taking place in physical stores, he said. The number of holiday package shipments grew 27% in 2020 and by more than 3% the following year during the pandemic. The numbers have been falling since then, with a projected decline of about 6% this holiday season. Looking to de-stress while waiting for your flight? Many airports have a fleet of therapy dogs — designated fidos and puppers that are eager to receive pets and snuggles from weary travelers. Rules and schedules vary from airport to airport, but the group AirportTherapyDogs uses online crowdsourcing to share the locations of therapy dogs across its various social media accounts. Today, Gracie, a toy Australian shepherd, and Budge, an English bulldog, wandered the concourses at Denver International Airport, and an American Staffordshire Terrier named Hugo greeted travelers at Punta Gorda Airport in Florida. Some airports even feature other therapy pals. San Francisco International Airport’s fleet of animals includes a Flemish Giant rabbit and a hypoallergenic pig. “We cannot live on the wages that we are being paid,” ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said at a rally earlier Monday. “I can honestly say it’s hard every single day with my children, working a full-time job but having to look my kids in the eyes and sit there and say, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to have a home today.’” Timothy Lowe II, a wheelchair attendant, said he has to figure out where to spend the night because he doesn’t make enough for a deposit on a home. “We just want to be able to have everything that’s a necessity paid for by the job that hired us to do a great job so they can make billions,” he said. ABM said it is “committed to addressing concerns swiftly” and that there are avenues for employees to communicate issues, including a national hotline and a “general open door policy for managers at our worksite.” Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, a hub for American Airlines. They described living paycheck to paycheck while performing jobs that keep planes running on schedule. Most of them earn $12.50 to $19 an hour, union officials said. Rev. Glencie Rhedrick of Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice said those workers should make $22 to $25 an hour. The strike is expected to last 24 hours. Several hundred workers participated in the work stoppage. Forty-four fights have been canceled today and nearly 1,900 were delayed by midday on the East Coast, according to FlightAware . According to the organization’s cheekily named MiseryMap , San Francisco International Airport is having the most hiccups right now, with 53 delays and three cancellations between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. EST. While that might sound like a lot of delays, they might not be so bad compared to last Friday when the airport suffered 671 delays and 69 cancellations. In an apparent effort to reduce the headaches caused by airport line cutting, American Airlines has rolled out boarding technology that alerts gate agents with an audible sound if a passenger tries to scan a ticket ahead of their assigned group. This new software won’t accept a boarding pass before the group it’s assigned to is called, so customers who get to the gate prematurely will be asked to go back and wait their turn. As of Wednesday, the airline announced, the technology is now being used in more than 100 U.S. airports that American flies out of. The official expansion arrives after successful tests in three of these locations — Albuquerque International Sunport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Tucson International Airport. ▶ Read more about American Airlines’ new boarding technology Travel can be stressful in the best of times. Now add in the high-level anxiety that seems to be baked into every holiday season and it’s clear travelers could use some help calming frazzled nerves. Here are a few ways to make your holiday journey a little less stressful: 1. Make a checklist of what you need to do and what you need to bring 2. Carry your comfort with you — think noise-canceling headphones, cozy clothes, snacks and extra medication 3. Stay hydrated 4. Keep up to date on delays, gate changes and cancellations with your airline’s app ▶ Read more tips about staying grounded during holiday travel Thanksgiving Day takes place late this year, with the fourth Thursday of November falling on Nov. 28. That shortens the traditional shopping season and changes the rhythm of holiday travel. With more time before the holiday , people tend to spread out their outbound travel over more days, but everyone returns at the same time, said Andrew Watterson, the chief operating officer of Southwest Airlines . “A late Thanksgiving leads to a big crush at the end,” Watterson said. “The Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving are usually very busy with Thanksgiving this late.” Airlines did a relatively good job of handling holiday crowds last year, when the weather was mild in most of the country. Fewer than 400 U.S. flights were canceled during Thanksgiving week in 2023 — about one out of every 450 flights. So far in 2024, airlines have canceled about 1.3% of all flights. Drivers should know that Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons will be the worst times to travel by car, but it should be smooth sailing on freeways come Thanksgiving Day, according to transportation analytics company INRIX. On the return home, the best travel times for motorists are before 1 p.m. on Sunday, and before 8 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on Monday, the company said. In metropolitan areas like Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Washington, “traffic is expected to be more than double what it typically is on a normal day,” INRIX transportation analyst Bob Pishue said. Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Mike Whitaker said last week that he expects his agency to use special measures at some facilities to deal with an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers. In the past, those facilities have included airports in New York City and Florida. “If we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe,” Whitaker said. The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of controllers that airline officials expect will last for years, despite the agency’s lofty hiring goals. 5. Auto club and insurance company AAA predicts that nearly 80 million Americans will venture at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday and next Monday. Most of them will travel by car. 6. Drivers should get a slight break on gas prices . The nationwide average price for gasoline was $3.06 a gallon on Sunday, down from $3.27 at this time last year. 7. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million people at U.S. airports during the same seven-day stretch. That would be 6% more than during the corresponding days last year but fit a pattern set throughout 2024. 8. The TSA predicts that 3 million people will pass through airport security checkpoints on Sunday; more than that could break the record of 3.01 million set on the Sunday after the July Fourth holiday. Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to be the next busiest air travel days of Thanksgiving week. ▶ Read more about Thanksgiving travel across the U.S. Workers who clean airplanes, remove trash and help with wheelchairs at Charlotte’s airport, one of the nation’s busiest, went on strike Monday to demand higher wages. The Service Employees International Union announced the strike in a statement early Monday, saying the workers would demand “an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.” The strike was expected to last 24 hours, said union spokesperson Sean Keady. Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, a hub for American Airlines. The two companies contract with American, one of the world’s biggest carriers, to provide services such as cleaning airplane interiors, removing trash and escorting passengers in wheelchairs. ▶ Read more about the Charlotte airport workers’ strike Parts of the Midwest and East Coast can expect to see heavy rain into Thanksgiving, and there’s potential for snow in Northeastern states. A storm last week brought rain to New York and New Jersey, where wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania. The precipitation was expected to help ease drought conditions after an exceptionally dry fall. Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lesser accumulations in valley cities including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Around 35,000 customers in 10 counties were still without power, down from 80,000 a day ago. In the Catskills region of New York, nearly 10,000 people remained without power Sunday morning, two days after a storm dumped heavy snow on parts of the region. Precipitation in West Virginia helped put a dent in the state’s worst drought in at least two decades and boosted ski resorts as they prepare to open in the weeks ahead. ▶ Read more about Thanksgiving week weather forecasts Two people died in the Pacific Northwest after a rapidly intensifying “ bomb cyclone ” hit the West Coast last Tuesday, bringing fierce winds that toppled trees and power lines and damaged homes and cars. Hundreds of thousands lost electricity in Washington state before powerful gusts and record rains moved into Northern California. Forecasters said the risk of flooding and mudslides remained as the region will get more rain starting Sunday. But the latest storm won’t be as intense as last week’s atmospheric river , a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows over land. “However, there’s still threats, smaller threats, and not as significant in terms of magnitude, that are still going to exist across the West Coast for the next two or three days,” weather service forecaster Rich Otto said. As the rain moves east throughout the week, Otto said, there’s a potential for heavy snowfall at higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, as well as portions of Utah and Colorado. California’s Mammoth Mountain, which received 2 feet (0.6 meters) of fresh snow in the recent storm, could get another 4 feet (1.2 meters) before the newest system clears out Wednesday, the resort said. Another round of wintry weather could complicate travel leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, according to forecasts across the U.S., while California and Washington state continue to recover from storm damage and power outages. In California, where two people were found dead in floodwaters on Saturday, authorities braced for more rain while grappling with flooding and small landslides from a previous storm . Here’s a look at some of the regional forecasts: 9. Sierra Nevada: The National Weather Service office issued a winter storm warning through Tuesday, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 kph). Total snowfall of roughly 4 feet (1.2 meters) was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations expected Monday and Tuesday. 10. Midwest and Great Lakes: The Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday and the East Coast will be the most impacted on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, forecasters said. 11. East Coast: A low pressure system is forecast to bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before heading to the Northeast. Areas from Boston to New York could see rain and breezy conditions, with snowfall possible in parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks. If the system tracks further inland, there could be less snow and more rain in the mountains, forecasters said. ▶ Read more about Thanksgiving week weather forecasts
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Judge rejects request to sideline SJSU volleyball playerGov. Glenn Youngkin emerged from this fall’s campaign as one of Donald Trump’s most enthusiastic supporters. But the incoming president’s plans have the potential to create major challenges for Virginia’s present governor. David J. Toscano Youngkin is pitching a tax cut, and cites a hefty state budgetary surplus as justification. But surpluses can evaporate in a Mar-a-Largo minute, and the prospects of declining revenue flowing to Virginia because of cutbacks in federal employment and reductions in Medicaid reimbursements are making Virginia budget-makers skittish about the future. Trump has stated his desire to fundamentally change the federal bureaucracy by eliminating civil servants either deemed expendable or who do not exhibit sufficient loyalty to the president. He could start by reinstituting Schedule F, an executive order issued late in his first term (and rescinded by President Joe Biden) to strip job protections from many career federal employees and make them more like political appointees who can be fired at will. This would devastate the commonwealth. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin arrives to speak at a rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Chesapeake, Friday, June 28, 2024. More federal workers live here than in any other state: 85,000 live in Northern Virginia and another 60,000 make Hampton Roads their home. Many earn a good salary, and cuts in their positions would mean losing state revenue that comes both from their income taxes and the sales taxes generated from their purchases. Remember sequestration, when Virginia took a disproportionate hit from cuts in federal spending? Or the various government shutdowns? When the federal government sneezes, Virginia catches a cold. Substantial cuts in federal employment might not dramatically affect the state budget until Youngkin has left office, but budget writers are justifiably concerned about future revenue shortfalls, thereby making any major tax cut problematic. While Trump’s attack on federal employees may garner the largest headlines, his plans for cutting Medicaid pose more serious fiscal challenges for the states. Since 1965, Medicaid has been the largest source of medical and health care funding for poor and disabled Americans, providing free health insurance to over 80 million people, many of whom are children. It is administered by the states, but major program funding is provided by the federal government. For every dollar a state spends on Medicaid, Washington provides a match to cover the costs. The match rate differs by state. In states with higher per-capita incomes such as Virginia and New York, the federal match equals 50% of costs. For poorer states like Mississippi and Alabama, the match is over 70%. Yearly federal spending on Medicaid exceeds $880 billion. Big changes in the program have occurred since passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which initially required states to expand Medicaid to people with incomes of up to 138% of the federal poverty level (which today equals about $35,600 for a family of three). In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court made this optional, but since the ACA required the federal government to pick up 100% of the state costs for the expansion population (gradually declining to 90%), many states concluded that expansion was a great way to provide insurance to those who could not afford it. Forty-one states plus D.C. eventually embraced the plan. Virginia joined in 2019, and its expansion population now numbers 758,000 of the 1,872,000 state residents in the program. Today, Medicaid covers almost 13% of the state’s population, and it is the second-largest expenditure in the state budget. Virginia budget writers were recently informed that there is a $632 million Medicaid shortfall that will require addressing in the next General Assembly session. While that may be enough to throw a monkey wrench into the governor’s plan for a tax cut, it is potentially only the tip of the iceberg. Reducing Medicaid funding has been the target of conservatives for decades, and with Republicans in control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress, a serious effort likely will be made to make cuts. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 report, the Republican Study Committee’s budget plan and the 2025 House budget resolution all propose Medicaid cuts, including the reduction of the federal match for the expansion population. President-elect Donald Trump speaks Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Republican proposals to reduce the match rate would be a budgetary disaster for all states, including Virginia. Ironically, many of the states who voted for Trump would take the largest hit because their federal match is so high. In Virginia, a reduction in the match for the expansion population to 50% reimbursement would mean $3 billion less per year for our budget, making the present shortfall mild by comparison. The commonwealth would either need to find additional funds to fill the gap or dramatically cut services to those most in need. But it gets worse. Buried in the 2018 Virginia Medicaid expansion authorization is language that requires the state to unwind expansion if the federal match falls below 90%. Eight other states (Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Utah) have similar laws that require termination of expansion if the share of federal funding drops. This would create a bureaucratic nightmare and remove 758,000 recipients. This places Youngkin in a serious quandary. Many of the people in the reddest counties in Virginia who voted for both him and Trump would likely be seriously harmed if they no longer qualified for Medicaid or their benefits were reduced. The governor, could, of course, propose new language in his budget to eliminate the requirement that the commonwealth abandon expansion if the match declines. Or he could speak out against any proposed cuts. To do either would likely draw the ire of the MAGA faithful, a group the governor is attempting to court as he contemplates a run for higher office. Most likely, he does nothing, in hopes the U.S. Senate has enough spine to prevent anything serious from happening. It isn’t exactly leadership, but it preserves his options for another day. This column was originally published in the Virginia Mercury . David J. Toscano, an attorney and former mayor of Charlottesville, served 14 years in the House of Delegates representing Charlottesville and Albemarle County, including seven as minority leader. Contact him at davidjtoscano@gmail.com . Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!
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