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Fewer Americans to Travel This Thanksgiving

by Terri Potratz | November 26, 2008 at 10:51 am

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For the first time in years, fewer people will be traveling for the Thanksgiving holidays in light of the dour state of the US economy; many simply can't afford to travel to see their families this year.

Even though gas prices are more affordable, travelers are less enticed to pack up their families and head out to the distant homes of relatives for an extended 4-day holiday weekend. The American Automobile Association (AAA) predicts that 1.4% fewer Americans will travel 50 miles or more this year compared to last.

For the first time in more than five years, fewer Americans will be traveling this holiday - 41 million, down 600,000 from last Thanksgiving, according to the Automobile Association of America.

"The economy is in such bad shape ... they're still really hesitant to take that trip," said Beth Mosher, spokeswoman for AAA Chicago.

Airlines are predicting a 10% drop in travelers, despite lower air fares:

With fuel prices down - along with the number of passengers - airlines have recently lowered fares at a time when they usually can mark them up, but fliers must still contend with add-on fees that the struggling industry has tacked on to everything from checked baggage to pillows to in-flight food.

What does this mean for the Thanksgiving traveler? Well, you likely won't see much of a difference on the roads or in airplanes, but bus and train congestion should be noticeably higher. Auto travel is predicted to fall by about 1% from last year, while bus and train traffic will rise about 5.8%. Airlines have reined in their capacity in the last year to compensate for high fuel prices, and this should affect functionality of airports but the cabins will still be tight:

The Air Transport Association, the airlines’ trade group, expects the number of travelers to fall 10 percent to 24 million during an extended holiday period of Nov. 21 through Dec. 2. It would be the first drop in seven years.

Fewer planes and fewer travelers may ease crowding in airports and congestion on runways, said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a passenger advocacy group based in Potomac, Maryland.

“The planes themselves will be congested, but everything else should run more smoothly,” he said.

“The stress on airports should be less,” Stempler said. “Hopefully, there will be fewer problems with baggage” getting lost and missed connections.

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Jordan Yerman

at 12:22 on November 26th, 2008

Air travel will also remain congested, since, while fewer people will be traveling by air, most airlines have cut flights, so remaining planes will remain crammed. We'd best get used to the taste of our own knees.

The Air Transport Association of American is projecting a 10 percent decrease in the number of air passengers flying over a 12-day period around the holiday, but airline capacity cuts prompted by record-high fuel prices over the summer mean planes will remain crowded.