MICHIGAN — Michigan residents are forecast to travel in numbers just shy of pre-pandemic levels for Memorial Day weekend.
The FAA expects more than 51,000 flights Thursday before we head into the holiday weekend.
Michigan travel numbers are almost right back up to pre-pandemic levels and are set to reach the third highest ever in overall travel, just behind 2018.
More than 1.2 million Michiganders will journey 50 miles or more. That's 79,000 more than last year.
Of that, 1.1 million plan to drive— an increase of 62,000 cars hitting the road—while flights are seeing a 7,000-passenger jump from last year’s 59,000.
Plans are already in place to make road travel a little easier, with construction work paused and —where possible— lanes reopened for the weekend.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently touched on easing travel obstacles after the recent failures of airlines during the last few holidays, highlighting the improvements that have been made since.
"We have seen airlines deliver considerable improvements in on-time performance in the past few months,” Buttigieg said. “Each month, we've seen cancellations under 2 percent, including across that busy spring break season. That's better than the ten-year average. And so far this May, we're seeing those numbers hold.”
So with busy skies and even busier roads—what’s a traveler to do?
Leave Thursday if you can and make sure you have a plan B.
Friday will be the busiest travel day and will likely be the day with delays or flight cancellations.
