The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: November thirteenth, caught in the air traffic web.

With Thanksgiving and the year end holidays, airports will be packed over the next six weeks. The transportation professionals who manage that traffic will do their best to make sure every passenger arrives at their destination on time.

Unfortunately that's nearly impossible. With more flights trying to take off and land during prime travel hours, runways are jammed when everything is running on schedule. The rolling gridlock that regularly grips the nation's airways quickly gets worse in bad weather. Delays and inconvenience soar when planes are flying full.

And full they will be. The airlines have become adept at luring more passengers onto their planes. Most major carriers these days use a combination of deep discount sales and frequent flyer freebies to fill a percentage of seats months in advance. They allocate another discounted portion of the plane for travelers able to book at least 21 days in advance and include a Saturday night. Travelers who can't do that often get stuck with paying exorbitant fares. Any seats which are still empty as the departure approaches can now be sold at bargain rates through e-saver outlets to those willing to make plans fly at the last minute.

While this strategy fills planes, it's also made air travel a commodity rather than a comfort or convenience. Where's the wisdom of scrambling to find cheap fares for flights that take off hours late or not at all? Although they pay lip service to passenger concerns, do the airlines have much incentive to provide it? Maybe if they were required to compensate passengers for long flight delays...

Back to November 2002 Main

Look through the list of fascinating places and off-beat features we’ve covered. Search text versions of past episodes and articles in our archives.