ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
This Thanksgiving holiday is expected to be the busiest ever for air travel, and that's not all that's different this year. There are also new rules in place about how airlines have to treat their customers. But it's not clear if those rules will survive or if the incoming Trump administration will try to roll them back. Joel Rose is NPR's transportation correspondent. He joins us now with more. Hey, Joel.
JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Hey, Rob.
SCHMITZ: So Joel, I feel like we say busiest ever every year around this time of year. You know, put these numbers into context for us. How big is the Thanksgiving rush this year?
ROSE: Well, the TSA - the Transportation Security Administration - is forecasting that 18 million people will pass through its checkpoints this week. That is...
SCHMITZ: Wow.
ROSE: ...A 6% increase over last year. And that's on top of what has already been a record-setting year for the TSA. Here's administrator David Pekoske at a recent press conference.
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DAVID PEKOSKE: This will be the busiest Thanksgiving ever in terms of air travel. That's not a surprise, given the incredible recovery in air travel in the United States since the pandemic.
ROSE: Pekoske says the 10 busiest days ever in the history of the TSA have happened this year.
SCHMITZ: Oh, wow.
ROSE: Yeah. And I think it's easy to forget, you know, how precarious things were. Just a couple of years ago, there were questions about how quickly the airline industry would rebound from the pandemic. Clearly, that demand to fly is back.
SCHMITZ: So at the same time, there are some new rules that airlines have to follow. What are they?
ROSE: Yeah, there's been a real push at the Department of Transportation with Secretary Pete Buttigieg at the helm to pass new rules that are aimed at protecting consumers, particularly after the big winter holiday meltdown back in 2022. The department issued a record fine to Southwest Airlines over that incident. And since then, it has pushed for other rules about how airlines have to treat their customers - for example, requiring airlines to automatically provide cash refunds instead of travel vouchers for flights that are canceled or seriously delayed. And Buttigieg argues that these rules are popular.
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PETE BUTTIGIEG: The passenger protections we have put in place deservedly enjoy broad public bipartisan support. The feedback we've gotten from the public has been universally supportive. I just don't run into a lot of people who are against the idea that you ought to get an automatic refund without any hassle.
ROSE: And Buttigieg says, you know, he hopes that these rules will be durable.
SCHMITZ: So what about the airlines? What are they saying?
ROSE: The industry has already fought some of these new rules in court, and it has had some success - for example, suing to block a rule that would have required greater transparency from the airlines about the fees that they charge. Several airline CEOs have already expressed the hope that DOT will be more pro-business when President-elect Trump returns to office next year. Here's Ed Bastian, the head of Delta, speaking to Bloomberg earlier this month.
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ED BASTIAN: We were quite frustrated with the amount of regulatory overreach that we saw continuously through the last four years. And we hope there's a new sentiment that's pro-employee, pro-consumer, pro-business and a good balance between the three.
ROSE: It's not clear exactly what kind of regulatory overreach Bastian is talking about here. But we should note the DOT is conducting an investigation of Delta, which canceled more than 5,000 flights after a technology outage back in July.
SCHMITZ: So Joel, I'm curious. How is the aviation system keeping up with this record demand?
ROSE: There are signs of strain. I mean, there is still a shortage of air traffic controllers. It is so acute in some places that it is causing delays in the system - Newark, New Jersey, for example. United Airlines, which has a hub there, has complained about significant delays this month. The Federal Aviation Administration has acknowledged that problem and says it's working to hire more controllers. But that's going to take a while, and airlines will likely continue to push on this as a priority during the Trump administration.
SCHMITZ: NPR's Joel Rose, thank you.
ROSE: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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