The turbulence caused by the longest U.S. government shutdown may still be fresh on the minds of travelers this Thanksgiving, but experts say preparing for the usual holiday crush of winter weather, heavy traffic and crowded airports can help ease the jitters.

Travel forecasts point to packed airports, roads and trains.

A week after lifting the unprecedented flight restrictions it placed on commercial airlines during the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is preparing for its busiest Thanksgiving in 15 years, with more than 360,000 flights scheduled between Monday and next Tuesday. That’s more than 17.8 million people who will be screened at airports, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday at a news conference that air traffic controller staffing levels have stabilized in time for what he says will be the busiest Thanksgiving on record for travel, while the head of the FAA reassured passengers that they can “fly with confidence” this week.

With more than 52,000 flights scheduled, the FAA said Tuesday was poised to be a heavy day for air travel.

Walker Powell, who was traveling from Denver to Louisiana with his family Tuesday, said he has experienced the pains of Thanksgiving travel, but so far, his trip was going smoothly.

“When I think of Thanksgiving week travel, I think of millions of people flooding through a place altogether at once, which has been the case sometimes,” he said. “When I fly Wednesdays, the day before Thanksgiving, it can be like that, but this time we flew out Tuesday, and so far it’s been quite a bit better. So I think I’m gonna start doing Tuesdays more.”

He said traveling to see family during Thanksgiving is “a hundred percent” worth it.

“It was really important to us to make the trip and suffer through this experience together as a family,” he said.

AP Video by Thomas Peipert