The weather outside was frightful, but travel for many passengers who passed through Pittsburgh International Airport yesterday was practically delightful.

Things at the airport were relatively quiet yesterday afternoon, with plenty of parking, modest security lines and only a smattering of flight delays.

"There's no one here," said Susan Melnick, of Point Breeze, who had flown back from visiting family in Houston for Thanksgiving. "You feel like you have the wrong weekend."

Last week, the American Automobile Association estimated that 41 million Americans would be traveling 50 miles or more during the week of Thanksgiving.

That number represents a decrease of 600,000, or 1.4 percent, from last year -- the first decrease since 2001.

To Susan Wells, a Houston-based computer trainer who has been flying to Pittsburgh every Sunday since September, yesterday felt not just less busy than a Thanksgiving Sunday but less busy than an average Sunday at the Pittsburgh airport.

"Nobody has any money" for optional plane travel, she said. "I really think people are holding off because of the cost."

But there were no shortages of travelers opting to drive yesterday, with heavy traffic on major interstates throughout Western Pennsylvania. Weather conditions did not help matters, with temperatures in the mid-30s and a cold rain falling for much of the day in the Pittsburgh area.

The state police reported several fender benders and disabled vehicles on the western end of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but no major incidents.

Traffic last evening was "moving, just slower," said state Trooper Michael Buncich.

Motorists reported miles-long backups yesterday afternoon eastbound on the turnpike near the Donegal and Irwin exits, with some slick and icy conditions near Somerset.

And at times, Interstate 80 in Clearfield County was partially closed in both directions.

At the airport, a few Allegheny College students were enduring a long wait of their own. After uneventful flights to Pittsburgh, they spent hours camped out at the baggage claim section of the airport waiting for the only shuttle to Meadville which was to leave at 5 p.m.

Afsaneh Samari, a 22-year-old junior from Rockville, Md., had awakened at 5 a.m. to catch a flight that arrived in Pittsburgh at 10 a.m. She was passing her hours in the airport napping and listening to music, while 19-year-old freshmen Erin Shipley and Nick Trodella spent their hours working on their laptops.

For the students though, it was worth every minute of the inconvenience to be home for Thanksgiving.

"I can't survive without family," said Ms. Shipley, of Chicago.

For Mr. Trodella, who had got up at 3 a.m. to catch a flight from Boston, "Nothing beats having been home over the last few days," he said.