The crush of airport crowds around Thanksgiving will soon become an every-week, and at some facilities, an everyday, crisis as air traffic continues to grow and governments refuse to respond with newer and expanded terminals, according to a new study.
The U.S Travel Association’s annual review of passenger traffic found a surprising jump in the number of airports that will have Thanksgiving week-like crushes once or twice a week during the rest of the year.
In its 2013 study, six of the 30 largest U.S. airports were already experiencing congestion levels equal to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving one day per the average week. That jumped to 13 in the report issued Tuesday.
What’s more, by next year, Chicago’s Midway and McCarran International in Las Vegas will feel like Thanksgiving every single day, nearly a decade sooner than expected.
The study is meant to be a wakeup call to governments considering infrastructure spending. USTA believes that fixing and expanding airports will boost the economy. And, they added, it will also reverse the growth in the number of people who refuse to fly during busy periods.
“If you hate traveling around Thanksgiving because of the crowds and chaos, unfortunately we’re well within sight of a time when it’s going to be like that every time you head to the airport,” said U.S. Travel Association President Roger Dow. “Political leaders need to understand the magnitude of this problem. It’s not just flyers who suffer because our air travel system cannot keep up with demand — it’s the entire U.S. economy.”
He added that air travel is expected to jump over the next 10 years, a growth that could add to the number of good-paying jobs in the economy.
“The U.S. air travel system was once the envy of the world, but now there is not a single U.S. airport ranked in the top 25 worldwide. Major investments in air travel infrastructure are desperately needed to restore service to even basic levels of adequacy, let alone cope with the expected coming demand,” said Dow.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
