Big hugs, big crowds at O'Hare as Thanksgiving travelers reunite

About 1.65 million people will travel through O'Hare and Midway international airports over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Chicago Department of Aviation predicts.

But Mary Luz Toledo was looking for just one of them Wednesday at O'Hare - her sister, Carlota Toledo of Pembroke Pines, Florida.

As parents embraced college students and grandparents reunited with grandkids at Terminal 3, Mary Luz Toledo was a standout in the happy crowd.

That's because she wore her axolotl (a Mexican salamander) Halloween costume to greet her sister. The Chicagoan explained she wanted as much use from the costume as possible, so it made sense to wear on Thanksgiving Eve.

"My sister dresses up on Halloween when she travels. I thought I'd cheer her up as well," said Toledo. Her amphibious attire garnered numerous smiles from airline passengers.

Thanksgiving getaways by air surpassed pre-pandemic levels this week, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration reported.

A total of 2,636,041 people passed through TSA checkpoints Tuesday, higher than 2020 through 2022 numbers, as well as in 2019 when 2,435,170 flyers were screened.

Sunday will be the busiest day at Midway and O'Hare, with nearly 300,000 people expected, the CDA said. The TSA is advising travelers to get to airports two hours in advance to check bags and pass through security.

Meanwhile, AAA estimates this Thanksgiving will be the second busiest on record, with more than 2.8 million Illinoisans - 60,000 more than 2022 - voyaging 50 miles or more from home.

The agency estimates it will rescue more than 360,000 stranded motorists across the U.S. during the holiday. The most common reasons include: flat tires, dead batteries and lockouts.