BENTONVILLE, Ark. — With air travel reaching pre-pandemic levels nationwide millions of passengers were expected at airports across the country. Several U.S. airports saw a lot of flight delays and cancelations.
At Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA), that was not the case. Instead, new bonds were being formed.
Denise Godwin, Rose Mobbin and Marge Bevere were a part of the 12 million people expected to have traveled this holiday weekend.
"I’m going to Florida," Bevere said.
"Yes ma’am, you are," Godwin responded.
Godwin came to Northwest Arkansas to visit Mobbin at their family reunion in Bella Vista. But the two met their “chosen grandma” at the airport.
"She is a sweetheart, she’s a sport,” Godwin said.
“You meet all kinds of people at the airport and you just make the best of it," Godwin said.
The three women never met each other until standing in a checkout line headed to the same destination. Each of them lives in various areas.
"Prairie Grove in Arkansas," Bevere said.
"I'm from Tallahassee, Florida," Godwin said.
"And I’m from Rogers, Arkansas, going back to Tallahassee, Florida," Mobbin said.
According to this list from AAA, Florida is among one of the top destinations for Arkansans traveling on Labor Day Weekend:
- Las Vegas
- Miami
- Orlando
- Alaska
- Key West
- Nashville
- Hawaii
- Memphis
- New Orleans
- Europe
Traveler Wayne Synder is headed back to Dallas after a weekend with friends at Beaver Lake.
"A good holiday weekend to get away and kinda into summer a little bit so just the perfect few days got together," Synder said.
Flying back home to DFW International to return to work.
"This is the last vacation for a little while. So, just back to work," Synder said.
The busiest airports in the U.S Labor Day Weekend 2022 are Harts-Jackson in Atlanta, Denver international, L.A.-X in Los Angeles, and Dallas Fort Worth round out the top four.