It's the most traveling time of the year

December 22, 1999
Web posted at: 10:37 p.m. EST (0337 GMT)

From Correspondent Jim Morelli

ATLANTA, (CNN) -- It's closing in on Christmas and over 2 million passengers swamped the nation's airlines Wednesday, the Air Transport Association told CNN.

It was the busiest travel day this holiday week, with planes leaving airports over 80 percent full.

With the prospect of more than 2 million people in the air, David Fuscus of the ATA, said, "... It's going to be a very, very busy day."

But that will soon be topped by January 4 -- when even more revelers will be returning, filling planes to 86 percent of capacity.

The calm eye of this "storm" of travel will be New Year's Eve and New Year's Day when the ATA says planes will be leaving less than two-thirds full.

The airlines, however, don't think Y2K fears are to blame. "We attribute that mainly to the fact that people want to be on the ground during the millennium celebration," Fuscus said.

But some travelers expressed different sentiments.

"Well, because of Y2K, I was afraid to be on a plane ... with the computers changing and I didn't want any problems so that was one of my concerns," said one traveler at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. "I just don't trust everybody that much."

Those traveling on the ground may have their own millennium concerns, according to the American Automobile Association. For the first time in nine years, the AAA expects the number of highway drivers to drop slightly this holiday season.

That still leaves 35 million people on the roads -- with all the attendant potential for accidents.

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