‘It will be delayed’: Christmas traffic ramps up as Nebraskans hit the road and pack planes

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Whether you’re hitting the road or hopping on a plane this holiday season, it’s important to know what traffic will look like.

“Always be prepared that travel is going to take longer than normal,” said Brittany Pierce, a travel agent at Lincoln-based Executive Travel. “More people out obviously leads to more delays traveling on the roads, same with airlines as well.”

Around 119 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday season, according to AAA.

The busiest time on the roads will be mid-afternoon until 8 p.m.

Experts expect fewer drivers to be out and about on Christmas Eve.

But by the end of this week, traffic will pick right back up as millions of people return home.

For those of you getting your boarding passes ready, Pierce said you might want to give yourself some extra time to get through security.

“With Lincoln and Omaha being so small, you usually can get through TSA pretty quick, but it might be delayed,” she said. “Actually, it will be delayed with as many people that are traveling.”

The good news is there were no flight cancellations in Lincoln or Omaha on Monday, and there were very few delayed departures and arrivals.

But that’s not the case in other airports.

At Denver International Airport, there were 180 delays and two canceled flights, according to Flight Aware.

One woman was lucky.

Kathleen Hanson flew from Denver into Lincoln and said it was mostly smooth, with no delays on her own flights.

“Except that I lost my billfold, and they were really helpful, but it wasn’t turned in,” she said.

Pierce said if you do run into delays, be patient.

“Give everyone grace,” she said. “It’s the holidays. You’re going to get where you’re going. Be nice, be kind, be polite to everyone because we’re all trying to get to our family and friends.”