Millions of Americans Still on Fence as Flights Fill Up

Many Americans have scrapped their plans to fly over Thanksgiving and Christmas, but millions more remain undecided about how they will spend the holidays, even as airlines and travel agents say seats for many destinations are filling up fast.

AAA said Thursday that about 2.2 million fewer people will be traveling by air this Thanksgiving than last, or about 6% fewer than a year ago. Worry over safety, the limping economy and an overall downcast mood among travelers after the Sept. 11 attacks all were cited as factors in the decline.

But a separate survey released this week by the Travel Business Roundtable found that one in five Americans still was unsure about his or her holiday plans. This indecisiveness may cost some a trip should they suddenly make up their minds to fly.

“People were figuring they had time to book tickets this year because they kept hearing no one was going anywhere,” said Steve Loucks, a spokesman at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a Minneapolis-based network of 1,000 travel agency offices. “But availability of seats is really becoming a problem. Flights are full. We’re having trouble getting people where they want to go and even more trouble finding good deals.”

American Airlines spokesman Emilio Howell said, “We still have seats available, but ... we anticipate full flights for the holidays.”

Air fares overall are nearly the same as last year’s, according to Bob Harrell of Harrell Associates in New York, which follows leisure travel fares. Though fares last month ran about 27% less than during the same month in 2000, the costs have since crept up.

“They’re seeing traffic come back,” Harrell said of the airlines. “So fares have risen and now are almost at last year’s levels again.”

The rates surprised Sam Hedquist, a Milwaukee truck driver who decided he would fly to Laguna Niguel for Thanksgiving to meet his new nephew, who is now 2 months old. But when he tried this week to book his ticket, Hedquist was told there was only one flight available, on TWA, and the seat would cost him $530 plus taxes--almost double what he had planned to pay.

“I said, ‘Forget it,”’ he said. “I’m going to work over the holiday now instead, make some money. At those rates, my nephew will be driving before I get to meet him.”

Many others are opting to drive over the holidays. The AAA report released Thursday shows 87% of travelers--or 30 million people--will take trips this Thanksgiving by car, the highest percentage ever recorded by the automobile club. Holiday drivers will benefit from the sharp decline in gasoline prices; the national average price of a gallon of gas has fallen from a high of $1.72 in mid-May to $1.22.

The survey by the Travel Business Roundtable found that about 2 million Americans who were planning to fly this Thanksgiving changed their minds after the Sept. 11 attacks. Of those people, 65% have decided to stay home and the rest are planning a short road trip instead. The survey, conducted at the end of October, also showed that nearly 4million people who had planned to fly for Christmas have since canceled those plans.

One in 10 Americans are discouraging friends and family from traveling during the holidays too, according to the survey.

“Despite airline price cuts, tighter security and efforts by the industry to get people flying, confidence is still very shaky,” said Matt Triaca, a spokesman for the Travel Business Roundtable, which is a trade group based in Washington. “Holiday travel isn’t going to be the same this year. It’s certainly not going to rescue the aching industry.”

Every Thanksgiving for the last decade, the McCandless family of Stockton flew to Seattle and joined 20 other relatives for a traditional turkey dinner followed by an evening of rowdy board games. But this year Elizabeth McCandless, 36, will cook her first holiday feast for her husband, Tim, and their three children.

“We just feel like staying around here,” said McCandless, a personal trainer. “I can’t explain it. We don’t feel like flying. There’s something about having a more intimate holiday, with just us, that seems right this year.”