Holiday travel? Expect the worst

WASHINGTON – The airline industry is advising Thanksgiving travelers to get to the airport earlier this year and to expect longer-than-usual lines at security checkpoints because of an anticipated 4 percent jump in passenger traffic.

Domestic carriers are expected to fly 27 million passengers worldwide over 12 days beginning Nov. 16, with planes about 90 percent full, the Air Transport Association said Monday.

The anticipated uptick in demand comes as the industry struggles through a year of record-low punctuality. Through September, more than 24 percent of flights arrived late, according to the Transportation Department, the industry’s worst on-time performance since comparable data began being collected in 1995.

In an attempt to minimize holiday travel hassles, some airlines will add as many as 500 seasonal workers – some of whom had been furloughed – to usher fliers through airports, said James May, president of the airline association.

Airports, meanwhile, will be prepared to supply additional food and water to planes that get stuck on tarmacs for extended periods, said Greg Principato, president of the Airports Council International-North America. However, Principato urged travelers to consider taking public transportation to airports, since many parking lots will fill quickly.

“If you always expect the worst, then when (it doesn’t come, everyone’s) frame of mind will be much more positive,” May said.

Travel expert Terry Trippler commended the industry for trying to get out in front of the issue before the holiday onslaught. But – as usual – all it will take is some bad weather to seriously gum up commercial aviation traffic.

“It’s difficult at best to have smooth-running operations without weather problems,” said Trippler, a longtime watcher of air fares who runs a travel Web site.

The industry anticipates an average of more than 2.5 million passengers a day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and the Sunday and Monday after the holiday, according to ATA. Average daily passenger traffic this year is roughly 2.1 million, with load factors of about 80 percent.