Outside the Beltway

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

· Wednesday, November 26, 2008 · 3 comments

It looks like travel this Thanksgiving will be a piece of cake, for those few of you who are travelling.

CHICAGO (AP) – Travelers breezed through airport terminals Wednesday and drivers cruised open roads, the effects of a sour economy blamed for keeping people closer to home at the start of the annual Thanksgiving rush.
Even though gas prices fell and airlines offered last-minute deals, many Americans appeared to be skipping trips this year. San Francisco resident Sharon McKellar called the Miami airport “shockingly quiet” after flying in overnight to visit family.

At Boston’s Logan International Airport, Alicia Kelly, 47, traveling with her husband and two children to Miami to spend the holidays with her family, said it was the lightest Thanksgiving travel she’s ever seen. “We have waited in no lines so far,” she said.

Security lines moved along briskly at under 10 minutes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, travelers found parking spots in the front row of the lot and no wait for check-in and security. The Delta terminal was nearly empty.

Not surprising really. If there is an increased chance of losing your job you might decide not to spend hundreds of dollars going on a trip.

FILED UNDER: Economics and Business, , , , ,
Steve Verdon
About Steve Verdon
Steve has a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and attended graduate school at The George Washington University, leaving school shortly before staring work on his dissertation when his first child was born. He works in the energy industry and prior to that worked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Division of Price Index and Number Research. He joined the staff at OTB in November 2004.

Comments

  1. bxbon (Bon, Rebecca Bon) says:
    Wednesday, 31 December 1969 at 23:59

    yay, crossing fingers for my drive tonight RT @drjjoyner http://tinyurl.com/6zbemk

  2. James Joyner says:
    Wednesday, 26 November 2008 at 14:31

    And, even if you’re confident in keeping your job, you can use the economy as an excuse to avoid a trip you didn’t want to take to begin with!

  3. Steve Verdon says:
    Wednesday, 26 November 2008 at 14:50

    And, even if you’re confident in keeping your job, you can use the economy as an excuse to avoid a trip you didn’t want to take to begin with!

    That too. Gotta find the silver lining somewhere.

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