It's the post-holiday travel rush. Many people are heading home after New Year's Day celebrations.

Friday is expected to be one of the busiest holiday travel days across the country, according to AAA, but things were still moving smoothly at O'Hare International Airport.

"It did not seem out of the ordinary, you know, for the holidays. I mean, within reason," said Doug Rupert, who was flying in from Florida.

It was smooth sailing for Rupert and his family as they came back from their trip to Orlando for the Citrus Bowl, along with a stop at Universal Studios.

But he said getting there was a hassle. They flew out on Christmas Day.

"It was crowded, obviously, and as we told you, the pilots didn't show up for our flight. So they had to take two pilots who were dead heading, had them get up out of their seats and then fly the plane. So they had to redo all the paperwork. That caused a little bit of a delay," he said.

Rupert said his family travels a lot, and is used to the chaos.

"We travel at different times of the year, and this isn't the first time we've traveled over Christmas or New Year's," he said.

Claire Moll and her family said they're experts when it comes to traveling during the holidays. She's from central Illinois, but lives in London. That's where they're headed after wrapping up the holidays in Illinois.

"It's just what we do. We've been doing it for over for 10 years, and now with kids, just pile it. There can't be more chaos when it's already chaos, right? It's just what it is," she said.

O'Hare officials said the airport's busiest day this holiday season was Dec. 20, with more than 263,000 people flying. On Friday, airlines projected more than 192,000 would fly through O'Hare.

On Sunday, O'Hare is expecting a slight uptick, with more than 200,000 flyers.

"I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be. It is busy, but airport's always busy. If you know what you're doing, you just sort of get on with it, weigh your baggage before you come, and just try to make it as fun as possible," Baldeep Moll said.

CBS News reports more than 47,000 flights are expected to take off across the country  on Friday.