Although air traffic is down this year including the traditionally busy pre-Thanksgiving rush, Airport President and CEO Kevin Dillon advised passengers to still arrive at the airport 90 minutes before their expected departure.

National estimates put travel this year at a decline of 4 percent on the day before Thanksgiving, and Dillon said travel has decreased by 62 percent on that same day over the last decade.

“I have observed that Thanksgiving travel has drastically changed,” said Dillon, a seasoned professional who has worked in airports all over the eastern seaboard—including Orlando, LaGuardia, Logan and Manchester, among others.

Dillon said that given the infamy surrounding the day before Thanksgiving, it has led passengers to take time off work to travel a few days before.

Rena Roth, a Sharon, Mass. resident wasn’t one of them. Rena said the prospect of traveling on the day before Thanksgiving didn’t bother her at all.

“I think it’s a lot of media hype to be honest with you,” said Roth. “I got to get where I’m going, and flying is the only way I’m going to get there without driving for over 10 hours.”

Roth was traveling to Maryland.

Contrary to popular belief, Green Airport’s busiest day is normally in August, not the day before Thanksgiving, Dillon said.

“We don’t have the peaking that we used to have,” said Dillon.

“But when you look at it in the aggregate, Thanksgiving week may, in fact, be the busiest.”

There were no delays on the boards at T.F. Green yesterday morning. That may have changed in the evening, however, as the Beacon went to press at 2:30 p.m.

Local talk radio 630 WPRO hosted two of its most popular shows, the John DePetro show and the Buddy Cianci show at the airport yesterday.

DePetro featured Dillon as a guest as well as Governor Donald Carcieri. Cianci also hosted Dillon, as well as Mayor Scott Avedisian.

WPRO Station Manager Paul Giamarco said that he expected heavy traffic at the airport, and therefore scheduled the shows there.

“It’s traditionally the busiest travel day of the year, so we belong here because we’re the fabric of this state and we need to be where the people are,” said Giamarco.