Holiday travelers, take a deep breath
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Holiday travelers, take a deep breath
TEXT OF STORY
SCOTT JAGOW: Over the river and through the ringer. That’s how you might feel if you’re flying this Thanksgiving. Hillary Wicai has more.
HILLARY WICAI: The Air Transport Association is forecasting that 25 million passengers will fly between today and Tuesday after Thanksgiving. That’s a three percent year-over-year increase.
Darryl Jenkins is an independent airline consultant.
DARRYL JENKINS: “Blame it on a reasonably enough robust economy that people were able to pay the excessively high fares this Thanksgiving holiday, as we’re seeing the highest fares that I’ve ever seen in about 30 years during a holiday.”
Now add the confusing security requirements on liquids and gels and you should expect long, slow lines.
The Transportation Security Administration says it’s as easy as 3-1-1. Liquids must be in a 3 ounce or smaller container, those containers must be in a 1 quart clear plastic zip top bag. One baggie per customer.
You can put bigger bottles in baggage you plan to check. Here’s the catch: More checked bags mean more bags the airlines could lose. And that’s already happening. September was the 8th worst month for baggage handling since the government began tracking.
In Washington, I’m Hillary Wicai for Marketplace.
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