Bookings for buses and trains during the Thanksgiving holiday are already outpacing last year’s demand as travelers are increasingly opting for alternative travel methods amid thousands of flight cancellations and delays during the government shutdown.
According to Reuters, air travel might still struggle for weeks even after the government shutdown ends. Thousands of flights have been canceled daily since the reduction plan began on November 8. Cancellations will grow to 6 percent on November 11 and will increase to 10 percent by November 14.
Travel search engine Wanderu found bus and train bookings are 12 percent above last year’s typical demand, with some departure dates seeing 20 to 30 percent year-over-year increase, most notably in places like St. Louis, New York City and Washington, D.C.
Amtrak is also expecting to break records for Thanksgiving, reporting double-digit growth in earlier Thanksgiving holiday bookings.
Car rentals are also seeing surges in one-way car rentals: Hertz’s CEO joined with airlines to advocate for the government to reopen, noting that the company saw a 20 percent spike in one-way rentals on November 8, when the FAA’s flight reduction plan began.
“We join the airlines in urging Congress to swiftly pass a clean continuing resolution and restore certainty for travelers,” said Hertz CEO Gil West. “Every day of delay creates unnecessary disruption.”
Airlines for America has reported a drop in air travel bookings recently, with some data already reporting November bookings down about 1 percent from last year. Data from November 9 shows that some 5.4 million air travel passengers have been impacted by the since October 1.
The advocacy group estimates what once the 10 percent daily flight reduction is in place, the nation will lose a range of $285 million to $580 million a day in economic impact.
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