Think Airport Crowding Is Bad Now? Wait ?Til Summer

“There are other things, specifically, like pilot retirements, but it’s mostly related to Covid and the general labor market.”Findley says one other major shift that could stretch into summer is that lingering Covid fears, overseas travel restrictions related to Covid, and high flight prices are making more Americans forego international travel and stay in the US, contributing to domestic airport crowding.“Whether they’re going to regional beaches or national parks, that has affected our domestic market, maybe in ways we weren’t expecting,” he says.Staffing cuts at airlines and airports, and among government security agents for air travel, have been unprecedented, largely due to the steep drop in demand for flights in 2020 and 2021 as Americans stayed home. Spooked passengers who fear long lines and missed flights may get to the airport hours before they need to, causing more unexpected crowding.“That sometimes clogs up screening checkpoints, affecting the capacity to handle that throughput,” Rankin says. “It’s up to the passenger to monitor their flight situation,” Rankin says.Findley says one way you can tell the air-travel industry is gearing up for a marathon of crowded airports is by the beefed-up amenities.