New Projections Reflect Huge Increase For Holiday Weekend Travel

Millions of Americans hit the roads and packed the airports this Independence Day weekend.

AAA said there was a 40 percent increase in travel during the 4th of July this year compared to last year.

"It feels good,” traveler Pam Rentschler said. “That was a tough year.”

For Rentschler, it was nice to get away for the 4th of July weekend.

"We went to Lake Fenton in Fenton, Michigan. It was fabulous, 90 degrees, sunny and low humidity,” Rentschler said.

Mark Madeja at AAA said there were only 2.5 million fewer travelers this Fourth of July compared to 2019.

Overall, Madeja said. 47 million Americans were projected to travel. There were 43.6 million travelers by car while 3.5 million chose to fly.

The projection would make it the second busiest Independence Day travel weekend on record.

"We thought this would be a gradual upward incline, but that didn't happen,” Madeja said. “America basically flipped a switch.”  

Jenny Wilson came all the way from Ohio to celebrate Independence Day in Green Country. She said it feels like people are ready to move on from the pandemic. 

"People seem to be a lot more relaxed,” Wilson said. “If they had to wear a mask, they had a mask on. Nobody was complaining.”

Madeja said they expect travel numbers to keep going up throughout the year. 

The Tulsa International Airport said they do expect to receive its Transportation Security Administration numbers for the weekend sometime Tuesday.