Labor Day traffic and travel: Best and worst times to drive and fly

(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans are gearing up to head to the airport or hit the highway for the last long weekend of summer.

Here’s what to know about Labor Day weekend travel:

Air travel

More than 17 million people are forecast to be screened at U.S. airports from Thursday, Aug. 29, to Wednesday, Sept. 4 — an 8.5% increase from last year, the Transportation Security Administration said.

The TSA anticipates Friday, Aug. 30, will be its busiest day with 2.86 million travelers expected.

The TSA’s top 10 busiest travel days ever have all occurred since May.

United Airlines expects this year will be its busiest Labor Day weekend on record, with over 2.9 million passengers poised to fly between Thursday, Aug. 29, and Tuesday, Sept. 3 — up 3% from last year. United predicts Aug. 30 will be its busiest day.

American Airlines predicts this year will be its largest Labor Day operations ever, with over 3.8 million customers anticipated from Aug. 29 to Sept. 3 — up 14% from last year. American says its busiest travel days will be Aug. 29 and Aug. 30.

For Southwest Airlines, Aug. 30 and Sept. 2 are forecast to be peak travel days.

The busiest airports are anticipated to be Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, according to Hopper.

The most searched domestic destinations for Labor Day are New York City, Seattle and Los Angeles, according to Hopper.

Road travel

If you’re hitting the road on Thursday, Aug. 29, the worst time to drive is from 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., according to analytics company INRIX.

On Friday, Aug. 30, the worst travel time is from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. On Monday, Sept. 2, the busiest time on the roads will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., INRIX said.

AAA said drivers should expect to pay less for gas this year. The national average for gas during Labor Day weekend 2023 was $3.81; this year, prices are expected to be around $3.50.