Airport Strikes, Winter Weather Add Worry to Thanksgiving Travel – But Things Are Looking Up

At the beginning of this week, things were looking like there some major delays forthcoming for holiday travelers for a couple of reasons. First, workers at the upper Midwest's busiest hub, Chicago's O' Hare, threatened a strike if their minimum wage wasn't raised to $15. This included all janitors, baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, etc.

Indeed, this would have caused flight delays and gate headaches. However, as of late Tuesday evening, the union decided to delay their strike until November 29, after Thanksgiving weekend travel.

Okay, that's one bullet dodged. Now what about the impact of winter weather?

According to the Weather Channel, most of the airports that will be affected by the latest winter storms will be mainly in the northeast. So, if you don't want to miss grandma's pumpkin pie in Connecticut, you might want to get an earlier flight.

One of the upper Midwest's most popular hub, Minneapolis - St. Paul could see delays because of snow. There were no delays here as of Wednesday morning, but here's the actual time delay map for  Minneapolis - St. Paul.

There is currently a 90% chance of rain mixed with snow in the Twin Cities and full snow returning by Thanksgiving evening.

Mostly low clouds and rain forecasted for Chicago with a rain/snow mix Friday night.

Overall, the outlook for air travel is much better than it was at the beginning of the week. So happy Thanksgiving and safer travel. And remember, you could end up hitchin' a ride from Gus' son in Wichita, like Del and Neil from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

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