ORLANDO, Fla. – On Sunday, Orlando International Airport buzzed with activity as travelers returned home following the Thanksgiving holiday. Contrary to predictions of high congestion, the airport’s operations ran smoothly despite the anticipated surge in travelers.
Throughout the day, arrival boards at the airport displayed punctual landings for most incoming flights. While departures generally proceeded without issue, a few delays did inconvenience some passengers, including those flying with United Airlines to Newark, who faced a particularly challenging day.
Travel disruptions were not confined to Orlando, as similar issues were reported nationwide.
[VIDEO: Nearly 2M travelers expected at Orlando International Airport for Thanksgiving holiday period]
A severe storm over the Thanksgiving weekend brought snow and ice to parts of the Midwest, causing widespread travel disruptions with airline delays and cancellations. However, in Central Florida, the atmosphere was markedly different, with passengers at Orlando International enjoying a warm and picturesque sunset instead of battling wintry conditions.
Not all travelers had an entirely smooth experience; Julie Clay and her family, en route to Louisville, encountered a brief delay of about 30 minutes before their departure.
“Probably at this point, maybe 30 minutes,” she said when we asked her how long she had been waiting near her gate. Even so, Clay was unfazed – and even a little bit impressed. “It’s been rather smooth, actually. I thought it would be worse, being a very big travel holiday, but it’s been very smooth.”
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Others shared similar experiences.
Jeff and Donna Stehower arrived from Arizona after a cross-country flight that was busy but largely uneventful.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Jeff and Donna said. “It was busy in Phoenix. Very busy. We had to wait.”
But overall, the couple described their trip as manageable, despite the crowds and minor delays.
Thanksgiving fell unusually late this year, placing it just over three weeks before Christmas. That means Central Florida and airports across the country will be gearing up again soon for another wave of peak travel.
Nationally, the TSA is expected to screen more than 18 million passengers over the Thanksgiving holiday period with more than 3 million of those passengers today. Airlines have added staff and increased capacity to accommodate the seasonal surge as this year’s holiday travel has the potential to set records for air travel volume.
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Industry insiders flagged a potential snag for the holiday weekend when Airbus announced earlier in the week that it had detected a problem with a recent software upgrade on aircraft across the A320 family (A318s, A319s, A320s, and A321s). Both older “ceo” and newer “neo” versions of the A320s and A321s are also affected. More than 6,000 aircraft (slightly more than half of 11,300 world fleet) were flagged for potential problems, but only about 1,600 U.S. registered planes needed immediate attention. American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit, and United are all A320 customers.
The problem stemmed from a vulnerability to data corruption caused – of all things – by solar flares. The fix was relatively easy: A two-hour procedure that basically rolled back the software for the Elevator and Aileron Computers (ELAC) to a previous version. The problem was discovered after both Airbus and the FAA investigated an incident aboard a JetBlue A320-232 that occurred on October 30, 2025, in which the aircraft experienced an unexpected altitude drop in mid-flight.
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