Travelers at PHL say return home easier than expected on busy weekend travel day

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

Waves of passengers moved through the Philadelphia International Airport on what is expected to be the busiest travel day for the airport this holiday season.

“I was scared thinking it was going to be busy, actually not as busy as we thought it was going to be,” said Queen Booker traveling home to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Booker says she prepared for longer wait times and delays, but was pleasantly surprised by how seamless the process was Sunday morning.

This morning at PHL, travelers were met with roughy a 25-minute wait.

“I didn’t want to travel today. I thought it was going to be really, really bad. But luckily, not as bad I thought it was going to be. My plan was to leave tomorrow, not today,” said Booker.

Airlines projected Sunday to be the busiest travel day this week, and this Thanksgiving holiday was expected to be one of the busiest travel seasons since the pandemic.

According to AAA, more than 55.4 million Americans were expected to travel 50 miles or more from home.

The Elmquist family, who traveled with their young daughter, arrived to the airport early in anticipation of large crowds.

“We actually thought we were being risky by flying out on this Sunday, we thought it was going to be really bad. But, it’s been pretty good,” said Bethany Elmquist from Charlotte, North Carolina.

It’s one of the busiest times of the year, not just for airports, but Amtrak trains as well.

Amtrak is also accommodating for a surge of riders on their trains.

AAA data shows Sunday being the busiest day as many returning home following the holiday. They also say Monday is a popular day to travel home.

Millions of Pennsylvanians hopped in cars and on trains.