Air Travelers Quickly Adapt to New Security Procedures
Aug. 14, 2006. As we predicted in yesterday’s blog, the American air traveler has again proven to be remarkably resilient. USA TODAY reported today that, “Airline passengers appeared to have adjusted by Sunday to rules prohibiting them from carrying liquids on board. Most travelers packed toiletries in checked bags, and lines moved along at airports from Los Angeles to New York.�
The article by Charisse Jones reported that, “There were only a few instances of passengers having to toss out lotions, shampoos and other liquids at the last minute — a scene that was common Thursday --------- for the most part, travelers Sunday said their journeys were not more stressful than usual.�
I personally witnessed this in a trip today in airports in Charlotte, NC Washington, DC. Monday is generally a very busy travel day, as business travelers begin their week and vacationers return from a long weekend. However, the general stress level was no more than on a normal Monday.
Vacationers who had already planned their trips were locked in to traveling this weekend. Certainly, those who have not made plans will pause a little to consider their plans. Over the weekend we saw significantly less traffic to our luxury vacation rental site, as people took in what had happened. However, the level of traffic had begun to return to normal later in the day on Monday. We think that if our government continues to handle the latest threat in a manner that inspires confidence, the London bomb plot will be just another bump in the road for the vacation industry with little or no long-term impact.
