Transcripts

Rising Gas & Air Fare Prices Aren't Putting The Brakes On Holiday Travel

SUSIE GHARIB: Airlines expect traffic will be up 4 percent this Thanksgiving season, the busiest travel time of the year. So far high oil prices have not reduced consumer demand to get home for mom's stuffing. But as Darren Gersh reports, travelers should be prepared for stuffed airports.

DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: If you are traveling this Thanksgiving, the airlines have some advice for you: expect delays. OK, so that's not exactly a surprise, given record poor on-time performance this year. For those keeping track, one out of every four flights arrived late in September. Even so, Jim May, the aviation industry's top lobbyist, says be prepared when you arrive at the airport.

JAMES MAY, CEO, AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION: If you always expect the worst, then when you don't have the worst, your frame of mind will be much more positive.

GERSH: May says big carriers are adding extra reservation agents and baggage handlers to cope with the 27 million passengers who will fly over Thanksgiving. To beat the crush, airlines are asking travelers to come to the airport early -- at least two hours for a domestic flight. And if they haven't already booked a ticket, passengers should build in extra time for connections. Why? Because airlines normally running at 80 to 85 percent of capacity expect to fill 90 percent or more of their seats in the coming week. So if air traffic snarls, airline analyst Phil Baggaley says carriers may have to choose between long waits on the tarmac and bringing planes back to the gate with little hope of rebooking passengers.

PHIL BAGGALEY, AIRLINE ANALYST, STANDARD & POOR'S: So they don't have any easy answers there. What they're hoping for is that they will be able to still maintain the flexibility to try to make the decision themselves, rather than having regulations put in place which would make the decision for them.

GERSH: Airlines blame weather and crowded air space around New York for causing most delays. But aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia says airlines are now running tighter schedules and that could result in a PR nightmare this Thanksgiving.

RICHARD ABOULAFIA, AVIATION ANALYST, TEAL GROUP: Ultimately, these guys are coming back to profitability by getting capacity out of the system -- seats, planes. So if something goes wrong, there is a cascade effect. Lots of people have to wait days for flights.

GERSH: With oil prices rising, capacity could get even tighter. The Air Transport Association says high jet fuel bills could lead airlines to retire inefficient planes and reduce the frequency of flights to some cities. That could make next Thanksgiving even more crowded. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.