Airlines have indicated they will cancel more flights due to dropping demand over the holiday period, but consumers are sending a different message.
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CDC Urges Travelers To Stay Home for Holidays
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked Americans to avoid traveling during the holiday season in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and expanding positive coronavirus test results.
The agency has not only suggested that passengers avoid air travel and practice social distancing, but also that they limit or cancel holiday plans with family and friends.
“Please be more careful around Thanksgiving so that we can have a merry Christmas, otherwise there’s a real chance that we’re going to see explosive spread of COVID throughout December as a result of the Thanksgiving holidays,” – CBS News
Airlines See Dropping Demand, Cancel Flights
United, in specific, has already seen flight cancellations and drops in new flight demand. However, airlines including United and American Airlines are adding flights to their depleted schedules to accommodate traffic needs.
This is confusing and could be seen as contradictory. Flights being added are specifically holidays flights and cancelations will be broader outside of specific holiday travel periods. For clarity, United and American are adding a combined 1,900 flights for Thanksgiving but cutting back elsewhere throughout the season.
Alaska Airlines added some context stating that despite Thanksgiving traffic, overall numbers for the Seattle carrier will be down 200,000 passengers for the month.
Lots of Americans Choosing to Travel Anyway
More than half (56%) of all Americans are planning to travel for Thanksgiving. That’s down drastically with regard to pre-pandemic levels compared to last year. Many are planning to drive instead of using the Wednesday before and Sunday after as days to fly.
Airline passengers traveling to see family, in a year where extended family contact has been at a premium, will take to the skies despite record COVID-19 infection levels in the United States.
Conclusion
Holiday airline travel is usually one of the busiest times of the year. For obvious reasons this year is different. While United has advised investors that demand is down and cancelations will increase, they’ve added flights (along with others) to accommodate American travelers that will fly anyway.
What do you think? Will millions of US travelers take to the skies for Thanksgiving? Will they drive instead or will they stay home?
There are no mixed messages. Only one message. Stay home. Stay safe. Save lives.
Which airline is sending that message? I don’t think there is one.
I wouldn’t even say one political party is sending that message and following it. For example, if 51.83% of the country voted for Biden and the Democrats have been “stay home, stay safe” party, but 56% are planning to travel, then even if 100% of Republicans planned to travel, still more than 10% of democrats are saying one thing and doing another, right?
I’m following all of Gov. Newsom’s rules for Thanksgiving. Of course I do as he says, not as he does.
Why follow the rules? I hear much of the law enforcement out in California is not enforcing the good governor’s orders. They need to change the California nickname from the “Golden State” to “The State of Hypocrisy.” Who needs Butterball for Thanksgiving when California has its very own homegrown turkey?
Ok loser Joe. Gruesome Newsom is a hypocrite. Doesn’t abide by his own rules. Eats indoors, sends his kids to private school which has indoor learning when the rest of the public schools are remote. Wake up!
Lol @ Joe Chivas!
It’s not March, it’s November.
Self righteous messaging telling *other* people what to do, doesn’t work anymore.
Everyone is sick of that dramatic pandemic snake oil.
I’m flying for Thanksgiving, 3 day trip to some sunshine.
20+ countries and 6 continents and 100k airmiles this year alone.
Ignored all the idiots telling me to change my life because they wanted me to.
Didn’t hurt anyone, never got Covid,
Best travel year of my life.
List all the countries here or it didn’t happen.
You know you have a 5 in 6 chance of not getting a bullet when you play Russian Roulette, right?
Doesn’t mean the bullet is #fakenews, though.
Thanksgiving this years a whole lots diffrent thans last yr yr before you coulids sees your entires family e freinds . This yr due the covid being kept in place plus testing a huge impact please mask up when going everything places from mary Henson
Along with everyone else, I’ve been wearing a mask, washing my hands incessantly and staying home for months. I suppose it’s worked since, despite what the news keeps telling me, my state and county health websites tell me hospitalizations and deaths are down dramatically. And certainly the politicians who make the rules are showing by their behavior that they don’t think covid is much of a problem anymore. I’m flying across the country to visit family for Thanksgiving. I’m hoping for an empty middle seat, but I don’t have my own row and first class filled up with me at #2 on the list. We’ll wash our hands, wear masks when not eating and sit 6 feet apart during dinner…and we’ll feel silly taking those precautions.
With the high number of apparently locally transmitted viral infections, why is travel still singled out? The time to stop travel was before the virus embedded itself in the community. Not traveling now is like closing the barn door after the horse has left. In my area the number of folks at stores like Walmart and Best Buy is staggering, and many still don’t seem to know how to wear a mask properly. Stores are no longer disinfecting doors and carts, yet travelling is the problem. I disagree. AC90 next week to GRU. Looking forward to it.
Flew on Sunday.
1/3rd full on each flight. Both flights left early and arrived early. Airports were empty…