Holiday travel headaches: Fewer, more expensive flights, crowded airports

Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Holiday travelers are experiencing higher fares, busier airports and harder to book flights as service losses plague the industry.

The Regional Airline Association reports a decline in services across 76% of U.S. airports, led by pilot shortages and stalling talks between unions and airlines. Faye Malarkey Black, president and CEO of the association, said the decline in services since 2019 is rivaled only by the post-9/11 industry crunch.

"We now have more than 500 regional aircraft parked without pilots to fly them and an associated air service retraction at 324 communities," she said. "Fourteen airports have lost all scheduled commercial air service - a number that is still rising."

The average price of domestic round-trip tickets is about $350 for Thanksgiving and $463 for Christmas. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fares were up 43% in October from the same time a year ago.

Small community regional airports are in perhaps the greatest peril, Black said. About 60 small airports are losing at least half of their services. She said this sector of the industry is "on the precipice of a wholesale collapse."

The passengers who are suffering the most are those with reduced mobility, such as wheelchair-bound flyers. Roberto Castiglioni, director of Reduced Mobility Rights, said staff shortages mean longer waits for people who already experience pain and discomfort while they stand or sit waiting to board and unboard.

"It's definitely got worse since the pandemic," he said.

About 27 million people with disabilities traveled by plane in 2019, according to the Department of Transportation.

Black warns of the dangers of losing reliable and accessible flight services, including increased highway traffic if people forego the airport for long-distance travel.

""Without reliable air service, displaced airline passengers become highway drivers, where the traffic fatality rate is soaring," she said.