Holiday travel is even more uncertain than a year ago after a summer of airline turbulence
Dallas travel agent Alex Ramsey is getting questions daily from customers uncertain about booking holiday trips. “Are Americans allowed to travel to Europe?” “Will hotels and restaurants have enough employees?” And the newest query brought on by recent turbulence: “Will my flight be delayed or canceled?”
“I’m telling people that the first thing they need to pack is their patience,” said Ramsey, president of All Aboard Travel. “If you are a type-A personality that needs everything to go perfectly, you will run into trouble.”
Even after a summer of packed airplanes, flight cancellations and face mask battles, airlines are preparing their biggest flight schedules in nearly two years while also scrambling to replenish staffing levels and amid employee pushback over government-required vaccine mandates.
And gone are the perks of flying during a pandemic. Prices will be higher and planes will be more packed than they were a year ago.
It’s a backdrop that’s giving travelers pause, especially with the chaos of Columbus Day weekend fresh in their memories. That’s when Dallas-based Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights, citing weather and staffing issues while stranding travelers at airports around the country. It cost the airline $75 million in lost revenue.
