Fog causes Thanksgiving travel delays

ASHWAUBENON - At Austin Straubel International Airport, Tom Waller and his family were trying to get to Rhode Island for Thanksgiving.

“We don't know what's going to happen, but it's the holidays, so here we go,” said Waller.

Pat Baldini and her husband were headed to Orlando.

“We're already an hour delayed. So I don't know what's going to happen next through Chicago,” said Baldini.

Fog warnings stretched across the Midwest. 500 passengers were affected at Austin Straubel.

“One flight got out very early this morning before six o'clock. But six of the other departures and three arrivals have been delayed because of the fog,” said airport director Tom Miller.

It was a similar situation at Outagamie County Regional Airport. Officials there say out of five flights to or from Chicago, two flights were canceled. Three others were delayed, including Katherine Ling's flight.

“I'm here a few extra hours, but it's not a huge deal. I'm getting home today,” said Ling.

It's a situation causing stress to a system that may be stretched to its limit.

“With the airlines reducing their capacity on their systems across the country and most of the flights are high capacity. It's hard for them to readjust and reaccommodate passengers on connecting flights, simply because most of the airplanes are full,” said Miller.

By mid-morning there was a break in the weather.

“The fog is now just lifting and actually should resume to normal activity here, rather shortly,” said Miller.

But travelers FOX 11 talked to say it isn't over yet.

“It'll be a lot later than we thought, but as long as we get there, one way or another,” said Baldini.

“We hope we get there today. That's about it. I think that's the goal, If we get there today, we'll be happy,” said Waller.

Many Americans will take to the skies this Thanksgiving to reunite with family and friends.

AAA says more than 43 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday.
    
That's up slightly from last year.
    
In Wisconsin, about 874,000 people will be going out of town.
    
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport expects to see 1.8 million passengers this week.