Calm before the storm - Metro travel traffic starts slow on Thanksgiving week

DTW airport traffic still slow at start of Thanksgiving stretch

Some travelers were planning ahead on Monday, but for the most part it was the calm before the storm at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

ROMULUS, Mich. (FOX 2) -
The big holiday travel week is here, and while many might be heading out of town a day or two before Thanksgiving, many were looking to beat that holiday rush Monday afternoon.

The backstory:

There has been a steady increase in people getting dropped off and grabbing their bags as they make their way through the TSA checkpoints at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus.

The staff at Metro are embracing the relative calm before the storm - as more travelers start making their way through the McNamara Terminal.

It’s still not nearly as busy as it will likely be the day before Thanksgiving.

We were also curious to see how many people might be opting for a different mode of transportation, say the train for instance. We found it to be empty at the Dingell Transportation Center in Dearborn. There is a chance traffic there could pick up as we get closer to the holiday.

At DTW, Shannon Telbert was traveling from Paris.

FOX 2: "Talk about how the travel’s been so far.  Are you getting ahead of the holiday rush?"

"Yeah, Delta was pretty uneventful," she said. "Customer service was awesome. Getting back in Global Entry helps as well as TSA pre-check."
  
FOX 2: "Were you nervous with all of the chaos going on with the airlines before?"

"Yes I was," Telbert said. "I got stuck in Detroit overnight a few weeks back because of a delayed flights that turned into the next day. And a couple weeks after that, I got delayed by five hours in in Louisiana and found out somebody had measles."

FOX 2: "So this was definitely better this time around."

"Right it was non-eventful - which is what you want," she said.

Texanna Watts was traveling to New York City.

"I’m traveling for work," she said. "I went to the Lions Giants game. Now I’m going back home getting ready for Thanksgiving."

FOX 2: "And getting out before the holidays - has it been crazy or pretty easy?"

"Actually it’s been pretty easy," Watts said. "Now what it’s going to do Wednesday, who knows, but it’s been pretty easy."

If you are traveling by car for the holidays, First Lt. Mike Shaw from Michigan State Police offered some advice.

"If you are traveling for the holiday protect yourself and others in your path by always avoiding distractions and wearing your seat belt every single time," he said. "Every unbuckled seat belt represents a life at risk."