Travelers pack Orlando International Airport over Labor Day weekend

Hordes of travelers passed through Orlando International Airport over the Labor Day holiday despite increases in flight costs — a number boosted by travelers forced to fly to Orlando due to Sunday’s fatal crash in Miami.

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Overall, about 841,000 passengers were projected to arrive and depart from OIA over the period from Thursday through Tuesday, airport officials said, including 155,000 on Labor Day itself.

While massive, that is a slight dip from the 891,000 estimated to have came in and out of Orlando over the 2025 holiday, though last year the Labor Day weekend began in August.

The American Automobile Association said Orlando is the second most popular destination for domestic travel in the United States this year, ranking just after Seattle. However, airline tickets for these top destinations have risen by nearly 20% compared to last year.

But despite higher prices, travelers still inevitably flocked to Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and other attractions.

Average delays at OIA were listed at only 15 minutes or so on Monday afternoon, according to the FAA, compared to the more than 5-hour delays for flights into Miami International Airport, where an Amazon cargo plane overshot the runway Sunday and crashed into several vehicles, killing at least five people.

As of Monday afternoon, according to the Miami Herald, there had been 293 flights delayed in or out of Miami and 79 flights canceled.

Jay Rowe, of Miami, was not one of those travelers who had been rerouted into Orlando, but the crash was on her mind as she waited at OIA on Monday.

Rowe had initially flown out of Miami to visit Arizona. But instead of flying directly back to Miami, she flew into Orlando to pick up her son who had been vacationing in St. Augustine, so they could drive down together.

She said she felt lucky.

“We did watch the crash on the TV thinking, ‘Oh my God, how tragic,’” she said. “And luckily we weren’t back inbound to Miami…we just happened to luck out.”

She also said rising prices were a big factor in planning her trip, including staying the night at OIA’s Grand Hyatt hotel and what flights to take.

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“We had to do a nonstop and I hate nonstops, but the only other option because of limited itineraries was waking up for a 5 a.m. flight. So we opted to do a layover,” Rowe said.

Jack Dotson, of Atlanta, was at OIA on Monday to meet up with his dad, who was flying in from Nashville, Tenn., so they can visit all four of Walt Disney World’s theme parks on this trip.

Dotson estimates he and his dad have gone to the resort about 25 times. He said he’s willing to stomach higher prices for the sake of family tradition.

“I think it’s worth it cause I love it so much. So yes, it is annoying unfortunately, but sadly I can’t do much about that,” he said. “Me and my dad have been going together since I was probably 15. It’s like our thing.”

The two usually don’t take their Disney trip on busy Labor Day weekend, but it came together at the last minute when both realized they were free. They plan to wait out airline traffic by staying a few days past the holiday period.

“We hope it won’t be busy. We hope all the kids and everyone will be back in school now since the weekend’s over,” Dotson said.

AAA also noted that while airline costs have gone up, domestic cruise prices have gone down. There was at least one traveler at OIA on Monday who seemed to be taking advantage of that opportunity.

Jesse Nguyen, of Houston, was on his way back home after taking a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Port Canaveral. Still, he said he will be taking such vacations sparingly because of the rising flight costs.

“It’s a little bit high, but once in a while it’s okay…I’m not going to go too often,” he said.

Nguyen was not too worried about congestion at the airport on his fight home.

“The airport is beautiful,” he said. “I’ve been to a lot of airports, and this is one of the best ones.”

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