ILM stays busy Thanksgiving Eve despite CDC warnings not to travel
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Thanksgiving Eve is one of the busiest travel days of the year. This year, Wilmington International Airport wasn’t expecting to see quite as many people flying due to the pandemic.
At times Wednesday night, ILM Airport was nearly empty. But as the night went on, the airport saw a handful of flights come in from across the country.
“The first flight was very claustrophobic,” Juan Mojuta, who flew in from Arizona, said. “A lot of people. Very gathered. But the second flight wasn’t as bad.”
The CDC urged people not to travel at all this year. Travelers on those flights Wednesday night say their flights were still pretty full, but they felt pretty good about the safety precautions in place.
“There have definitely been different security precautions and stuff like that,” Carmen Polzin, who flew in from Wisconsin, said. “We were given wipes and stuff like that, and that’s always very helpful. I can tell they’ve tried to space us out as much as they could, but it still gets pretty busy sometimes.”
Some people say their trip felt pretty normal, despite some of the safety guidelines and changes.
“Being the first time, I think it wasn’t bad as expected,” Nuvia Gonzalez who flew in from California, said.
Airport officials say Wednesday was still expected to be one of the busiest days of the year, but they only expected around 50% of the number of travelers they normally see.
“Still a full plane, but very good,” Mojuta said. “Very good. Everybody wore their mask and it was very safe. A lot of people respected the rules and kept their mask on, and that’s what I was happy about.”
There were also fewer flights going in and out. On Thanksgiving week, the airport says there are usually 22 flights a day each way, but there or only 13 to 19 this year.
“As far as social distancing, you’re sitting right next to people, so it’s not really being applied besides wearing a mask,” Gonzalez said. “But it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. I didn’t feel there was any inconvenience.”
Each airline has its own safety and capacity policy.
People visiting from other states say terminals and other areas in different airports seemed to still be crowded, but they didn’t seem to have too many complaints about their trip.
“I felt pretty safe,” Polzin said. “Some of the airport were more crowded because D.C. is obviously a bigger airport, so there are more people. But besides that, I felt pretty safe.”
Airport officials say Friday and Saturday are always the quietest days Thanksgiving week.
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