The holiday travel rush peaked on Friday as mild weather and a lower rate of flight cancellations raised hopes for cheerier airline drivers and passengers than last year.
US airlines are predicting a bumper holiday season and have projected confidence they can handle the crowds after hiring thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other workers, seeking to avoid the delays and suspensions that marred travel last year and culminated in the Southwest Airlines disaster . more than 2 million people.
Airlines have canceled just 1.2% of US flights so far this year, the lowest in five years, but bad weather is always a threat.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg has warned that the government will hold airlines accountable for operating smoothly and treating passengers well if there are disruptions.
Earlier this week, the Department of Transportation announced a settlement in which Southwest will pay $140 million for last year’s crisis.
About 70 flights had been canceled in the US by early Friday afternoon and about 3,480 had been delayed, according to FlightAware.
The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.6 million passengers on Thursday, which has been projected to be one of the busiest travel days, along with Friday and New Year’s Day.
A group of travelers wait to check in for their flight at Boston Logan International Airport on Dec. 21, 2023. AFP via Getty Images Airlines have canceled just 1.2% of US flights so far this year, the lowest in five years, but bad weather is always a threat . AP
That’s less than the record 2.9 million agents screened on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, as travel tends to be more spread out over Christmas and New Year’s.
Travel has been strong this year — well past pre-pandemic levels — even as many Americans say they worry about the economy.
TSA has screened 12.3% more travelers than last year and 1.4% more than in 2019.
Robert Lake said he hoped taking a pre-dawn flight from Atlanta International Airport would help him beat the crowds Friday but found the world’s busiest airport already crowded in the morning.
“It’s very busy. I got to the boarding area, like, maybe just a few minutes before the plane took off,” Lake said after arriving in Tampa to go on a vacation cruise. “I cut it too close.”
The Department of Transportation announced a settlement in which Southwest will pay $140 million for its decline last year. AFP via Getty Images
Other travelers said they were surprised at how easy their trip was despite the crowds.
“Very easy. We had a great flight. No problems so far,” said Kendall Black, who flew from Houston to Chicago O’Hare International Airport with her partner and 3-year-old daughter to visit her sister.
The AAA auto club predicts that 115 million people in the US will travel 50 miles or more from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day.
That’s up 2% from last year. The busiest days on the road are next Saturday and Thursday, Dec. 28, according to transport data provider INRIX.
Passengers walk through Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport in Linthicum, Maryland on December 22, 2023. AFP via Getty Images Travelers walk past the check-in line at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on December 22, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Inflation has eased slightly, and travelers are helped by lower average gas prices and airfares.
The nationwide average gas price on Friday was $3.13 a gallon, down 15 cents from a month ago and about 3 cents from this time last year, according to AAA.
Average fares in October were 13% lower than a year earlier, according to the latest government data.
Internationally, air travel has also recovered, although it remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Airlines sold 31% more tickets for international arrivals to global destinations between December 21 and December 31 compared to the same period last year, according to travel data firm FowardKeys.
The AAA auto club predicts that 115 million people in the US will travel 50 miles or more from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day. AP
Some travelers in northern Europe had bad luck with bad weather and labor unrest.
The storm brought heavy rain and strong winds across northern Europe overnight into Friday, uprooting trees and prompting flood warnings on the North Sea coast.
Workers at the undersea tunnel between Britain and France staged a surprise strike on Thursday, forcing passenger and carrier services to be canceled before an agreement with unions was reached.
Eurostar, which operates passenger train services from London to continental Europe, said services would resume Friday and it would run six additional trains between Paris and London over the weekend.
Airlines sold 31% more tickets for international arrivals to global destinations between December 21 and December 31 compared to the same period last year, according to travel data firm FowardKeys. AFP via Getty Images
In the US, AccuWeather forecasters said that the Pacific storm that hit parts of Southern California on Thursday will combine with other storms in the Northwest and produce a large snowstorm in the Rockies.
AccuWeather is warning travelers to watch for possible flight cancellations and delays in Denver over the weekend.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
