Pain Points For Thanksgiving Flyers: Here’s What To Expect

This year’s Thanksgiving is looking to be better as the chances of physical gatherings have increased amid ongoing vaccination efforts across the country. But some experts have laid out several pain points for people planning Thanksgiving travels to meet with loved ones.

Bookings have been on the rise over the past months, with the Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks airline recovery, noting that Thanksgiving flight bookings with scheduled arrivals between Nov. 20 and Nov. 25 were 78% higher than flights booked in the same period last year.

Lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights, Vivek Pandya, said the influx in Thanksgiving bookings could have been driven by people seeking to make up for time lost with loved ones during the pandemic. Flyers are encouraged to book flights as early as they can to prevent disruptions or delays as demand increases in the days leading to the holidays.

While increased booking activities signify recovery in the industry, Thanksgiving flyers should also expect higher prices as demand continues to surge, Pandya said. He pointed out that this year’s prices are also affected by higher fuel prices as the country struggles through supply chain hurdles and fuel shortage. Besides higher ticket prices, flyers should also expect potential security-related setbacks at the airport.

Airport security credentials such as Global Entry or TSA PreCheck can help passengers get through airport security faster, but recent reports indicated that the said services have shown longer queues over the past few weeks, Forbes reported. Longer security lines have caused delays for some passengers and have also raised concerns about apparent short-staffing in service desks.

One of the main concerns of consumers and industry observers that have sent airlines scrambling over the past several months is staffing shortage. Thousands of flights have been canceled over worker shortages in multiple American airlines, Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, American Airlines canceled hundreds of flights due to weather forecasts and inadequate staff to provide service. Airlines are scrambling to prevent cancelations during the Thanksgiving holidays, but some observers noted that around 2,000 cancelations at Southwest Airlines last month could be foreshadowing Thanksgiving travel disruptions.