Airports busy for Thanksgiving, but shutdown took toll on air travel

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Millions of Americans are packing airports this Thanksgiving during the holiday getaway, but airline bookings took a dip this fall, due to uncertainty over air travel caused by the government shutdown.

As the 43-day shutdown stretched on, a growing number of people decided not to book flights, worried they might not make it to their destinations.

Bookings dropped by 4.5% through Nov. 24, according to the analytics firm Cirium.

Projected air travel had been on a record pace but reservations slowed as the shutdown dragged on.

The Federal Aviation Administration limited the number of flights during the shutdown, due to shortages of air traffic controllers. Eventual