Day: November 23, 2022

The Thanksgiving travel rush was back on this year, as people caught planes in numbers not seen in years, setting aside inflation concerns to reunite with loved ones and enjoy some normalcy after two holiday seasons marked by COVID-19 restrictions.

Changing habits around work and play, however, might spread out the crowds and reduce the usual amount of holiday travel stress. Experts say many people will start holiday trips early or return home later than normal because they will spend a few days working remotely — or at least tell the boss they’re working remotely.

The busiest travel days during Thanksgiving week are usually Tuesday, Wednesday and the Sunday after the holiday. This year, the Federal Aviation Administration expects Tuesday to be the busiest travel day with roughly 48,000 scheduled flights.

Chris Williams, of Raleigh, North Carolina, flew Tuesday morning with his wife and two kids to Atlanta, Georgia, to spend the holiday with extended family.

“Of course, it’s a stressful and expensive time to fly,” said Williams, 44, who works in finance. “But after a couple years of not getting to spend Thanksgiving with our extended family, I’d say we’re feeling thankful that the world’s gotten to a safe enough place where we can be with loved ones again.”

Although Williams said the family’s budget has been tight this year, he’s capitalized on the opportunity to teach his kids some personal finance basics. His youngest, 11, has been learning how to budget her allowance money since March and is excited to buy small gifts for her friends on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. “Probably slime,” she said, “with glitter.”

The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.6 million travelers on Monday, surpassing the 2.5 million screened the Monday before Thanksgiving in 2019. The same trend occurred Sunday, marking the first year that the number of people catching planes on Thanksgiving week surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

“People are traveling on different days. Not everyone is traveling on that Wednesday night,” says Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president at the trade group Airlines for America. “People are spreading their travel out throughout the week, which I also think will help ensure smoother operations.”

AAA predicts that 54.6 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home in the U.S. this week, a 1.5% bump over Thanksgiving last year and only 2% less than in 2019. The auto club and insurance seller say nearly 49 million of those will travel by car, and 4.5 million will fly between Wednesday and Sunday.

U.S. airlines struggled to keep up as the number of passengers surged this year.

“We did have a challenging summer,” said Pinkerton, whose group speaks for members including American, United and Delta. She said that airlines have pared their schedules and hired thousands of workers — they now have more pilots than before the pandemic. “As a result, we’re confident that the week is going to go well.”

U.S. airlines plan to operate 13% fewer flights this week than during Thanksgiving week in 2019. However, by using larger planes on average, the number of seats will drop only 2%, according to data from travel-researcher Cirium.

Airlines continue to blame flight disruptions on shortages of air traffic controllers, especially in Florida, a major holiday destination.

Controllers, who work for the Federal Aviation Administration, “get tested around the holidays. That seems to be when we have challenges,” Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle said a few days ago. “The FAA is adding another 10% to headcount, hopefully that’s enough.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has disputed such claims, saying that the vast majority of delays and cancellations are caused by the airlines themselves.

TSA expects airports to be busier than last year and probably about on par with 2019. The busiest day in TSA’s history came on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2019, when nearly 2.9 million people were screened at airport checkpoints.

Stephanie Escutia, traveling with four children, her husband and her mother, said it took the family four hours to get through checking and security at the Orlando airport early Tuesday. The family was returning to Kansas City in time for Thanksgiving after a birthday trip to Disney World.

“We were surprised at how full the park was,” said Escutia, 32. “We thought it might be down some, but it was packed.”

She welcomed the sense of normalcy and said her family would be gathering for Thanksgiving without worrying about keeping their distance this year. “Now we are back to normal and looking forward to a nice holiday,” she said.

People getting behind the wheel or boarding a plane don’t seem fazed by higher gasoline and airfare prices than last year or the widespread concern about inflation and the economy. That is already leading to predictions of strong travel over Christmas and New Year’s.

“This pent-up demand for travel is still a real thing. It doesn’t feel like it’s going away,” says Tom Hall, a vice president and longtime writer for Lonely Planet, the publisher of travel guides. “That’s keeping planes full, that’s keeping prices high.”

Source: Voice Of America

Skyrocketing food prices due to soaring inflation are taking a bite out of this year’s feast on Thanksgiving, a national holiday in the United States on November 24. People traditionally share a big meal and give thanks for their blessings.

Thanksgiving dinner often includes turkey and trimmings, such as cranberries, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

A survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation indicates Thanksgiving dinner costs are up 20% from last year. And the cost of a turkey alone is up 21%.

Some people say they plan to pare down their big holiday feast.

“I will not have as much food this year. I used to have too much food anyway,” said Cynthia Walsh, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington. “What is more important is that my family is together to appreciate what we have.”

For those in need, food banks across the country are lending a hand. But with donations down, and a huge influx of clients, they are feeling the pinch.

Millions of people are reaching to the food banks for help.

Among them is Marguerita Vicencio, who came to the U.S. from Chile six years ago.

“My husband just lost his job, and this is the first time I’ve come to a food bank for help,” she said as she picked up supplies at Food for Others in Fairfax, Virginia, a Washington suburb.

Her 11-year-old son, Tomas Arancibia, said his family combines their Chilean roots with American Thanksgiving traditions.

“We’re going to celebrate with a turkey and the food we get here with my brothers and sisters and friends of our family,” he said.

Annie Turner, executive director of Food for Others, told VOA that high food prices are making it challenging for the nonprofit to support the clients.

“We’ve not only seen an increase in our food costs, but our donors are giving less money, so we have to buy more food ourselves,” she said. “Meanwhile, the number of families that are coming here has increased 60% over this time last year.”

“We get many families who come to get food for Thanksgiving, and we hand out stuffing, potatoes and other fresh produce,” she added. “Instead of providing a turkey, we give them a gift card to buy food, so they can get a turkey or other food they would prefer.”

In the Midwest, food service organizations in cities like Chicago and St. Louis are also getting inundated with clients.

“The number of people turning to our food programs is up 42% compared to last year,” said Greg Trotter, director of marketing and communications at Nourishing Hope, a social services group in Chicago. “Our donations have not been enough to keep pace with the increase in the number of people we serve, which includes a lot more families with children.”

“Even though we had to pay twice as much as we did for turkeys this year, we try to provide turkeys and other holiday food to anyone who comes in the door,” he said.

At the St. Louis Area Foodbank in Missouri, the organization is holding their “Thanksgiving Together” for the fifth year.

“We are distributing Thanksgiving meals to over 4,000 families, the highest we’ve ever planned for,” Meredith Knopp, the president and CEO of the foodbank, told VOA. “Since this area has such a diverse population, which includes people from Afghanistan and large Bosnian and Asian populations, we are also providing foods that they are more accustomed to since not everybody celebrates Thanksgiving.”

In Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the U.S., the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank through its partner agencies reach 800,000 people every month.

Michael Flood, the CEO of the food bank, said a major problem is “we’re having supply issues getting enough turkeys for Thanksgiving.

“Besides turkeys, we’re bringing in truckloads of chickens for people during the holiday,” he said.

At St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, Arizona, the number of people who come in continues to skyrocket, said Jerry Brown, the director of public relations.

“We’ve had twice as many people than this time last year — 7,000 of them came to our two main locations in one week, which we’ve never had happen before,” Brown said. However, “donors are cutting back, so we’re spending more money on food and we’re giving out more food than we ever have before.”

Despite the obstacles, Brown said the food bank is determined to give families a good Thanksgiving.

“We’re anticipating we will be able to send 12,000 people home with food boxes before Thanksgiving,” Brown said. “We have prided ourselves at St. Mary’s for decades that the last car leaving us before Thanksgiving will have a turkey in the back seat.”

Source: Voice Of America