Road home clear for many Americans

ATLANTA – The journey home at the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend was smooth sailing for many travelers Sunday, although snow slowed the journey for some in the West.

Chains were mandatory on vehicles traveling on two major highways linking Sacramento, Calif., to ski resorts in Nevada’s Lake Tahoe area.

“It’s super slow going because of all the holiday traffic,” said Greg Schiessl, a California Highway Patrol dispatcher in Truckee, Calif.

Yet travelers across most of the nation had dry and relatively mild weather for their drives and flights home. Airports in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Columbus and Cincinnati reported no major problems or delays.

At midday, “On Time” flashed next to most flight numbers on departure boards at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and security checkpoint lines took less than 10 minutes.

“They’re in a pretty happy mood,” Bobby Anderson, a 73-year-old shoe shiner, said while watching the largely relaxed crowd at the world’s busiest airport.

More than 290,000 travelers were expected to go through the Atlanta airport Sunday.

At Los Angeles International Airport, about 75 members of a city union protested for renewed contract negotiations. Members of the Engineers and Architects Association chanted slogans and waved picket signs outside the departure areas of two airport terminals, said Robert Aquino, executive director of the 7,400-member union.

While three protesters were cited for blocking traffic, the demonstration was largely peaceful and not disruptive, police spokeswoman Martha Garcia said.

Nearly all flights into and out of San Francisco International Airport were on time Saturday morning, but by early afternoon the airport reported an average 46-minute delay for all inbound and outbound domestic and Canadian flights.

The change coincided with light showers and decreasing visibility in the San Francisco Bay Area.