Houston airline crews are gearing up for a busy travel weekend ahead of Fourth of July

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The summer travel season is in full swing, and as America prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, July 4 is perhaps the most important date of the year for airlines nationwide.

United Airlines is expecting 6 million travelers worldwide during the period from June 26 to July 6, according to airline staff. Of the 6 million travelers, they're expecting approximately 550,000 travelers per day and more than 500 flights per day out of Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

United Airlines gave ABC13 an exclusive look into what it takes to get planes off the ground and to their destination safely. The airline showed ABC13 their "Virtual Ramp Tower."

"We issue the pushback instructions, we get traffic moving on the surface at the airport, taxi planes to and from the runways, and keep these aircraft moving," United Airlines Regional Manager of Air Traffic Strategy Operations Eric Dietz said.

Dietz and his team coordinate with aircraft crews to navigate them to the runway before handing them off to Air Traffic Control Ground Operations.

Dietz said safety is top of mind after he said a United Airlines flight from IAH to Munich, Germany, returned to IAH safely after encountering a mechanical issue.

The staff at IAH is preparing for another virtual ramp tower to replace the existing one.

They anticipate that it will happen in 2027.