Weekend travel, high and low, set to be heavy

The Labor Day holiday is expected to put 33-million on the roads and crowd the skies.

By JEAN HELLER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 31, 2001

It is the last big fling of the summer, so in the sky and on the roads, look for Labor Day holiday traffic to be heavier than on an average weekend. But it won't be nearly as congested as the holiday that opens the summer travel season.

"Gas prices were up, and then they were down, and now they're creeping up again, but this is the last big hoopla of the summer, and people aren't going to let a few cents a gallon keep them at home," said Diane Jones of AAA Auto Club South.

The organization projects that 33.2-million travelers will drive more than 50 miles from home over the three-day weekend, a slight increase from the 32.6-million last year. About 1.6-million of those travelers this year will be on Florida's roads.

A larger bump in travel might be in the skies. Airlines, including Northwest, Continental, American, Delta and United, have announced fall fare sales that could encourage more people to get away for the weekend.

But only a limited number of seats per flight are eligible for the low fares, and they will go quickly.

"Fares are a factor we can't really predict when we plan for this weekend," said Brenda Geoghagan, spokeswoman for Tampa International Airport. "Friday will be the busiest day, and we're predicting about 40,000 passengers total, compared to a normal Friday, which is about 35,000. The fare sales could bump it up a little, but the numbers will still be a lot lower than the 50,000 to 55,000 a day we see over the Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays."

Diana Cronin, spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, which represents most U.S. carriers, said the Tampa experience should hold true nationwide.

"Traditionally, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving are the biggest air travel days of the year," Cronin said. "This coming weekend will be busier than the average day, but not anywhere near the numbers you see at the beginning of summer."

As always, the experts advise travelers to leave time for glitches.

This is particularly true at TIA, where the ticketing area, the second level of the Landside terminal, is undergoing remodeling.

"People will see a lot of barricades and scaffolding, and it will look confusing," Geoghagan said. "But there are a lot of signs directing people where to go. It's an inconvenience, but if people just take a minute to read the signs, they should be fine."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright