United Airlines announced they’ll be drastically increasing the number of flights to its schedule for the Thanksgiving holiday this year. United expects the week fo November 23rd to be its busiest since the pandemic began, and as a result plans to add 1,400 additional domestic flights that week to accommodate the increased bookings.

United has noted that around 50% of thees bookings for Thanksgiving are within 30 days prior to travel, which is the reason the airline is scrambling to add back additional flying. Additionally, the airline is looking at swapping larger aircrafts on certain flights as a way to help with the increased demand.

The additional flights don’t just stop for Thanksgiving, as United is also adding more flights back to its schedule for December. The airline plans to fly around 48% of its overall schedule compared to December 2019. United sees strong demand to warm weather destinations such as Florida and the Caribbean as well as ski destinations.

Per United Airlines,

In December, United intends to fly 52% of its domestic schedule compared to December 2019, which is a 3-point increase compared to November 2020.

One of the biggest changes holiday travelers may notice this year are additional flights on peak travel days from United’s Chicago, Denver, Houston and Washington Dulles gateways. The airline is adding more departures to provide customers with more options to get to their destination this holiday season. With these changes, United expects to operate more than 200 additional departures on peak days during the holiday period. Highlights of United’s December schedule include:

• Additional service to popular warm-weather destinations in Florida and Hawaii, including: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Meyers, Tampa, Miami and Palm Beach in Florida and Honolulu, Maui, Kona and Lihue in Hawaii.
• In Hawaii, United will reintroduce service between Los Angeles and Hilo, Chicago and Maui, as well as between New York/Newark and Honolulu for the holiday period. United will also increase service on 13 Hawaii routes beginning December 17.
• United will also begin six new routes between Fort Myers, Florida and Columbus, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, between New York/LaGuardia and Palm Beach, and between Milwaukee and Tampa beginning December 17.
• United will increase service to popular ski destinations, including Aspen, Jackson Hole, Steamboat Springs and Vail, with over 580 weekly roundtrips beginning December 17.