Protesters Block Main Airport Throughout Thanksgiving Journey Rush
Travelers heading to the bustling Los Angeles Airport for Thanksgiving travel were blocked after hundreds of airline catering workers, represented by Unite Here Local 11, staged a protest near the airport.
Dozens of passengers were forced to abandon their cars in order to arrive on time after protesters blocked Century Boulevard a main artery into the airport. The protests began on Tuesday and have continued in subsequent days and are ongoing as of Thanksgiving, causing severe traffic disruptions during the peak holiday travel rush, with protesters shutting down the major entrance and gathering throughout the airport area.
“Honestly, people don’t care about the people who make food and put it on their plates,” one union co-president, Susan Mimato, told Fox 11 Los Angeles. Workers are demanding better working conditions amid allegations of unsafe practices.
The action drew widespread frustration, with calls for LAPD intervention, as protesters swarmed roadways and intersections, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Footage of the demonstrations showed numerous distraught passengers who were forced to miss their flights. Additionally, the severe backups forced many to abandon their vehicles mid-roadway and walk — sometimes carrying heavy luggage — to reach the airport on foot.
“These are not people exercising free speech. Their sole purpose is to make others miserable,” one frustrated onlooker told Fox News.
TRAVEL TURMOIL: Hundreds of airline catering workers shut down a key LAX entrance, leaving travelers ditching cars and trekking to terminals on one of America’s busiest travel days.
Workers said they’re demanding a new contract, alleging unsafe conditions, broken equipment,… pic.twitter.com/gUvv5Hg974
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 26, 2025
U.S. airlines are anticipating a record-breaking 31 million passengers flying over the holiday period from Friday, November 21, through Monday, December 1. This marks the busiest travel season in 15 years, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, with over 360,000 flights scheduled and an average of 2.8 million passengers per day.
Specifically for domestic flights, about 6 million travelers are expected, a 2 percent increase from 2024. At LAX alone, officials project 2.5 million travelers over the week, with Sunday, November 30, as the peak day handling over 230,000 guests.
Airports nationwide, including LAX, are managing the surge by urging passengers to arrive at least two hours early for domestic flights and three hours for international ones, while promoting pre-booked parking and real-time tracking via apps like FlyLAXstats to mitigate bottlenecks.
Major hubs like LAX, Chicago O’Hare (ORD), and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) are reporting the highest rates of delays and cancellations so far, compounded by the protests and overall record traffic, though numbers are projected to dip slightly on Thanksgiving Day itself to about 25,611 flights.
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