Holiday Travel Expected to Break Records

Before and after the turkey, almost 20 million passengers will take to the skies this Thanksgiving week. Millions more will travel in cars and buses. Amtrak is scheduling more trains and making them longer for what normally is the busiest travel period of the year.

U.S. airlines are expecting a record 19.8 million passengers in the week and a half surrounding the holiday. That’s 10% more than the 18 million who flew during the Thanksgiving holiday last year, said David Fuscus, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., which represents major air carriers.

“It’s just going to be busy,” Fuscus said. “The airlines gear up for it. People need to be patient.”

Bookings are up 2% to 3% at TWA, said Mark Abels, a spokesman for the airline. On Wednesday, 40,000 passengers--10,000 more than normal--are to board TWA planes in St. Louis, the airline’s hub, he said. “On Thursday, though, we have lots of seats.”

Sylvia Harris, 30, a legal receptionist from Virginia Beach, Va., said a fear of flying, compounded by recent airliner crashes, prompted her to take a train this Thanksgiving. She and her 3-year-old daughter, Somer, left Virginia early Monday bound for her native Cleveland--a 24-hour journey.