The Sunday after Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest travel day nationally. San Francisco International, Oakland International and San Jose International all had longer lines than normal.
“We just got back from Florida,” said Rachel Rider of Watsonville as she waited to pick up her luggage.
Rider, her husband and their three daughters arrived at SFO Sunday afternoon after spending quality time with her side of the family.
“We haven’t had Thanksgiving with them in three years, so it was really special to be home and see my whole side of the family in Florida,” Rider said.
The rider said that despite the long flight, it was a smooth trip for the most part.
“We arrived at the airport the normal two hours before we left. We almost missed the plane in our connection, that’s true, in Dallas. But other than that it was pretty easy,” Rider said. “We had plane problems, but it wasn’t crowd problems.”
SFO officials said Rider’s family was among the tens of thousands of people who came through the airport. Airports only provide departure numbers.
The SFO duty manager expected 82,800 people to leave on Sunday based on pre-purchased tickets. He said that with roughly the same number of arrivals, he estimated Sunday’s total ridership to be about 165,000 passengers.
At the smaller San Jose International Airport, officials said about 90,000 passengers would depart SJC between Wednesday and Sunday.
Officials at Oakland International Airport did not yet have the number for Sunday. But they reported that from November 22 to November 30, about 129,000 passengers flew out of OAK.
“We’re coming back from Portland, Oregon. And the airport wasn’t too busy. It wasn’t too bad. Good flight. No delays at all, easy,” said John and Jennifer Evans as they waited for their luggage at OAK.
With many young children traveling during the holidays, parents tried different things to keep their children entertained and happy.
“(My four-year-old daughter) is a professional, she’s been on a few flights. So she knows how to travel. And with the iPad it keeps her attention,” says Quintin Glover of OAK.
Many passengers said generally no major problems with lines. The bigger problem, they said, was that the vacation was far too short.
“We love San Fran. We don’t want to leave,” said Jessica Escalon, who was visiting family in San Francisco from Los Angeles. ‘I don’t want to go home, but we’ll go home, I think. I have to go back to work tomorrow.’
Rider said traveling with children is never easy, but on Sunday she capped off a great trip for her family.
“I’m relaxed. I’m ready to get back to work,” Rider said.
