Last-Minute Holiday Air Travel Down

Trying to book a cross-country airline seat two days before Christmas is usually a lost cause, but not this year.

As of midday Wednesday, there were open seats on dozens of scheduled flights on routes of almost all the major airlines, travel experts say. As a result, airlines are responding with aggressive sales.

“You’d normally expect Dec. 23 to be a heavy travel day. But to have that many seats open from Chicago to Orlando? Come on,” said Terry Trippler, a columnist for 1travel.com, an Internet travel site. “This is highly unusual.”

Experts say some last-minute travelers might have been scared away by increased security in airports, warnings about terrorist threats and even fears of Y2K computer problems.

Airline officials say they expected slow sales for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day--as well as New Year’s Eve and Jan. 1--but they expect to make it up on other days.

But at Los Angeles International Airport, officials expect the next several days to be busy. In addition, Ontario International Airport also urged travelers to arrive early to avoid parking and check-in delays.

“We certainly haven’t noticed any real downward trends at LAX,” said Matthew Triaca, spokesman for United Airlines, the nation’s biggest carrier. He said Friday and Saturday will be light travel days, and New Year’s Eve and Jan. 1 also will be slow. Today is expected to be “a very busy day” for United, he said. United is the largest airline operating out of LAX.