SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The summer travel season is taking off at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.
The day before the Fourth of July is typically one of the busiest travel days of the season.
Newlyweds Austin Vander Wel and Natalia Chavez are flying back home to Washington, DC after visiting his relatives in South Dakota.
“I’m usually in Bolivia in the summer, so I never get to experience the Fourth of July rush hour,” Chavez said.
But the couple had to change travel plans when the last leg of their flight into South Dakota was delayed.
“Our flight got pushed back so far, we actually cancelled it from Kansas to South Dakota so we just ended up renting a car and I drove up,” Vander Wel said.
David and Shelby McCracken of Willow Lake are also flying into uncharted territory for the Fourth.
“First time flying with kids so not exactly sure how it’s going to go, trying to keep them entertained for a 2-hour flight, it’s going to be interesting, for sure,” (laughs) Shelby McCracken said.
Young families like the idea of not having to pack as much for their summer getaway as they would if the weather were colder.
“You don’t have to pack your jackets,” David McCracken said.
“Jackets, snow pants, boots,” Shelby McCracken said.
“It’s a little easier in the summertime,” David McCracken said.
Holiday travelers also made sure to arrive well ahead of their departure time.
“We have to be checked and ready to go one hour before the flight departs so we want to make sure that all the bags can get checked and we’d be on the plane and not have to worry about any of that especially with his car seat and stroller and making sure he’s got everything he needs,” Daniel Finley of Sioux Center, Iowa said.
Our DC newlyweds say they’re getting a refund from the airliner for having their flight to South Dakota delayed. They say flying over the Fourth can be as hectic as any other holiday on the travel calendar.
“I’d say Thanksgiving is probably still worse, but Fourth of July is the same stress,” Vander Wel said.
The airport’s executive director expected more than 2,000 people flying out of Sioux Falls Wednesday, with roughly an equal number of passengers arriving at the airport.
The airport will be busy again on Sunday when passengers return home from their holiday destinations.
