Salon :: Tech & Business

Ask the pilot: As if long delays and security lines weren't enough to worry about during Thanksgiving travel, now we have to add running out of fuel to the list?

<a href="http://dir.salon.com/topics/thanksgiving/">Thanksgiving</a> is about many things. But for those planning to fly, it's mostly about long lines, heavy crowds, and lots and lots of waiting -- your hair turning gray in the <a href="http://dir.salon.com/topics/security/">security</a> line while the meatlike waft of <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/ChickFilA-ChickenSandwich.jpg/800px-ChickFilA-ChickenSandwich.jpg">Chick-fil-A</a> mixes with the smell of burning kerosene from idling jets. <P>So far this year, industry load factors -- that is, the percentage of seats occupied -- have been averaging around 80 percent. On Wednesday and Sunday, bookends of what is historically the year's busiest five-day stretch, they'll be close to 100 percent. According to the Air Transport Association, the country's carriers can expect to transport 27 million this holiday period -- a 4 percent increase over last year. Although the number of flights will be roughly the same as during any other week, those maxed-out cabins will make a bad situation worse, bogging things down from the inside. You can expect security lines to be particularly excruciating, burdened by the sudden presence of occasional-flier Americans unfamiliar with the liquids/gels/laptops/jackets/shoes ballet. Throw in some foul weather, and <a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/04/07/askthepilot180/">terminals could get ugly.</a> <p>...</p><img src="http://feeds.salon.com/~r/salon/tech/~4/188586801" height="1" width="1"/>

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