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American Morning
Holiday Travel Update
Aired November 26, 2003 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Whether hitting the highway or taking to the skies, millions of Americans are heading out this holiday weekend. It is expected that this will be the heaviest weekend of Thanksgiving travel since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Let's get some updates now from two of the country's busiest airports. Kris Osborn is at Chicago's O'Hare airport for us this morning. Michael Okwu is at La Guardia airport in New York for us as well.
Kris -- let's begin with you. How is it looking at O'Hare?
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Soledad.
You know, the sun has yet to come up here at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, but spirits are high. As you mentioned, it's very busy here this morning.
We can give you a look right over here to the side, and tell you that as many as 215,000 passengers are expected to travel right through here at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
I can tell you the initial word -- at least in terms of delays and cancellations -- because of the good weather, it looks pretty good.
Let's get you some perspective now. We're joined by Mary Frances Fagan. She is with American Airlines.
How is it different this year, in terms of what travelers are aware of and they're facing?
MARY FRANCES FAGAN, AMERICAN AIRLINES: Well, I think this year many travelers will find it easy to get through the airport, check-in process. They can either use a curbside check-in and talk to a skycap, get their boarding pass, leave their luggage and go on through security to their gate, or inside in many ticketing lobbies you'll find self-service check-in machines, where you very quickly swipe your credit card through the machine, answer a few questions by pushing the screen, and then you'll get your boarding pass. You can turn around, give your bags to an agent, they'll ticket them, and you go. It's very easy, very simple.
OSBORN: Thank you very much, Mary Frances -- one reason perhaps why we're seeing a few smiles here this morning.
Soledad -- back to you.
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks very much.
Let's turn now over to La Guardia airport this morning to take a look at the monitor there and see how it's looking. So far, so good. Everything looks to be going on time. Michael Okwu is at La Guardian this morning for us.
Hey -- Michael. Good morning.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Take a look at that. That is a traveler's dream. Everything at this point is on time. So, whether or not you're traveling to Salt Lake or Seattle, everything is running smoothly right now.
But travel experts I have talked to have said don't expect that necessarily to last the entire day. This is one of the most congested airports, not only in the region, but in the entire country. Some 1,200 flights are going to originate from La Guardia airport at some point today.
And, in fact, this is, as we all know, one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. About 36 million Americans are expected to take to the car or even take to the skies. We understand about 4.6 million Americans will be flying.
All of those numbers are up this year, and, in fact, travel experts say keep in mind three major things: There is going to be major security, so make sure to get to the airport three hours ahead of schedule. We're all getting used to that at this point. Try not to wear any of those shoes that set off the magnetometers. And, by all means, Soledad, and I'm especially telling the viewers this, please, please wear socks that don't have any holes in them -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You know what? I've got to tell you, Michael, you joke about that. It took me a long time to get my husband to realize that things had changed when you start taking off your shoes at the airport. Michael thanks for that update. I appreciate it.
OKWU: Got it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 26, 2003 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Whether hitting the highway or taking to the skies, millions of Americans are heading out this holiday weekend. It is expected that this will be the heaviest weekend of Thanksgiving travel since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Let's get some updates now from two of the country's busiest airports. Kris Osborn is at Chicago's O'Hare airport for us this morning. Michael Okwu is at La Guardia airport in New York for us as well.
Kris -- let's begin with you. How is it looking at O'Hare?
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Soledad.
You know, the sun has yet to come up here at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, but spirits are high. As you mentioned, it's very busy here this morning.
We can give you a look right over here to the side, and tell you that as many as 215,000 passengers are expected to travel right through here at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
I can tell you the initial word -- at least in terms of delays and cancellations -- because of the good weather, it looks pretty good.
Let's get you some perspective now. We're joined by Mary Frances Fagan. She is with American Airlines.
How is it different this year, in terms of what travelers are aware of and they're facing?
MARY FRANCES FAGAN, AMERICAN AIRLINES: Well, I think this year many travelers will find it easy to get through the airport, check-in process. They can either use a curbside check-in and talk to a skycap, get their boarding pass, leave their luggage and go on through security to their gate, or inside in many ticketing lobbies you'll find self-service check-in machines, where you very quickly swipe your credit card through the machine, answer a few questions by pushing the screen, and then you'll get your boarding pass. You can turn around, give your bags to an agent, they'll ticket them, and you go. It's very easy, very simple.
OSBORN: Thank you very much, Mary Frances -- one reason perhaps why we're seeing a few smiles here this morning.
Soledad -- back to you.
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks very much.
Let's turn now over to La Guardia airport this morning to take a look at the monitor there and see how it's looking. So far, so good. Everything looks to be going on time. Michael Okwu is at La Guardian this morning for us.
Hey -- Michael. Good morning.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Take a look at that. That is a traveler's dream. Everything at this point is on time. So, whether or not you're traveling to Salt Lake or Seattle, everything is running smoothly right now.
But travel experts I have talked to have said don't expect that necessarily to last the entire day. This is one of the most congested airports, not only in the region, but in the entire country. Some 1,200 flights are going to originate from La Guardia airport at some point today.
And, in fact, this is, as we all know, one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. About 36 million Americans are expected to take to the car or even take to the skies. We understand about 4.6 million Americans will be flying.
All of those numbers are up this year, and, in fact, travel experts say keep in mind three major things: There is going to be major security, so make sure to get to the airport three hours ahead of schedule. We're all getting used to that at this point. Try not to wear any of those shoes that set off the magnetometers. And, by all means, Soledad, and I'm especially telling the viewers this, please, please wear socks that don't have any holes in them -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You know what? I've got to tell you, Michael, you joke about that. It took me a long time to get my husband to realize that things had changed when you start taking off your shoes at the airport. Michael thanks for that update. I appreciate it.
OKWU: Got it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
