Chicago Midway Airport sees busiest travel day of the year amid holiday rush

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Travelers landed at Midway Airport in Chicago on a rainy Sunday during what's supposed to be the airport's busiest day of the year amid a a holiday rush home.

Airport officials say more than 50,000 people are expected to pass through Midway Airport Sunday.

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Airport officials said that's about the same amount of people who passed through last year, making it their busiest day of the year.

"This was my first time in all my years being able to be away in December," traveler Wesley Robertson said. "It was a little wet out there, but that's to be expected."

Depending on the destination, flying in and out of Chicago's Midway Airport for some travelers came with both wet weather and delays, with flights delayed over 60 minutes.

"It delayed, like, two hours, I think," said Elle Cramer, who was flying to San Diego. "I'm pretty chill about it. I'm here for the ride. I'm here for the experience."

For traveler Levert Hughes, his plans to fly back to Philadelphia have been a breeze.

"I brought my big coat thinking I was going to get that old school Chicago weather," Hughes said. "It's going smooth, even got on a quick pass. I just had to come up and get it corrected, and I'm going right back down, going through TSA and I'm cool."

According to the Department of Aviation, within the last 24 hours as of 5 p.m. Sunday, out of more than 450 flights, 80 of them were delayed 45 minutes or more. There were 126 total delayed, and only two of them were cancelled.

"Well, there's quite a few people here, but it's still a little bit slow," said Rowena West, who was flying to Alabama. "I think it'll be picking up as the day progresses. They're still, you know, dealing with turkey and dressing and all of that, so it's making them sleep a little late tonight."

Last Monday was the busiest holiday travel day up at O'Hare ahead of Christmas.

TSA says they are ready to screen roughly 40 million passengers nationwide through January 2, which is a 6% bump from last year.

With that in mind, some travelers have some advice.

"Get here early," Hughes said. "You wait in the afternoon, you are coming through drama."

Not everyone will be flying, though. According to AAA, nine out of 10 people will drive this holiday season. Either way, time and preparation should be a must on the itinerary.

"Things happen, and you want to air on the side of caution," Robertson said.

The best time to hit the road Sunday was before noon, any time after that and drivers will likely run into heavy traffic.

AAA predicted 107 million people would hit the road.