With the chaos caused by the government shutdown behind us, people across the country are starting to travel for the holidays.

Thursday marked the first day of the busy Thanksgiving travel season, but officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport say they expect to see fewer people waiting in line than in 2024.

It's in part because of the shutdown, officials said.

Taylor James lives in Cleveland but flies down to Atlanta every year for the holiday to visit college friends.

"We bring all of our kids and our spouses, so it's such a fun time. I'm just excited to celebrate Thanksgiving — friends, tradition, and all of that," James said.

But the issues caused by the shutdown left James a bit more wary this year.

"I was definitely nervous. I got TSA PreCheck because I just wanted to make sure we could get through easily," she said.

James isn't the only one with travel worries.

"This is what we refer to as the Super Bowl. It is the busiest travel period of the year," Hartsfield-Jackson's general manager Ricky Smith said.

Smith said they are projecting 4 million passengers will pass through the airport during the travel season, a projection down from a year ago.

"Monday, Dec. 1st, we're projecting to be the busiest travel day of the year. We're projecting some 375,000 passengers to come through," Smith said. "That 375,000 level will be down compared to last year because that number of prospective travelers was somewhat leery of traveling by air because of the government shutdown, so many of them decided to travel by car."

With federal employees getting paychecks again, everything is business as usual at the airport.

"It's not as bad as I thought," James said.

AAA's 2025 Thanksgiving travel forecast predicts 2.3 million travelers from Georgia traveling for the holiday season - a 1.4% increase from last year, the majority of them driving.