Nov 26, 2008 12:05 pm US/Eastern
NYC Holiday Travelers Find Smaller Crowds
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ―
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Higher prices, more crowded planes and fewer flights; that's the Thanksgiving gift that airlines travelers are receiving Wednesday morning.
CBS
Holiday travelers leaving the city for Thanksgiving found smaller crowds than usual at La Guardia Airport, with the slumping economy blamed for keeping people at home and federal authorities warning of a possible terror plot against the subways.
Anthony Giacinto arrived at the usually jammed Queens airport on a flight from Detroit expecting to see more hustle and bustle. Instead, there was no wait.
"I thought it would be busier today but we just breezed through," he said.
Barbara Kniffin had driven her daughter and grandson to the airport a few hours before their flight, assuming the terminals would be packed.
Instead, the 47-year-old Long Island grandmother got a few more hours to spend with her family as they checked in with no hassle.
"It's almost eerie," Kniffin said, glancing around at the sprinkling of other passengers in the food court. "Other years at this time, it would be a madhouse."
The Federal Aviation Administration reported general delays of 15 minutes or less at La Guardia, Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports.
Travel experts attributed the smaller crowds at La Guardia and other airports across the country to the economic downturn, even though gas prices fell and airlines offered last-minute deals.
Nationally, the Automobile Association of America said 41 million Americans were expected to travel over 50 miles for the holiday, down about 1.5 percent or 600,000 people from last Thanksgiving. Flying was expected to be down more sharply, about 7 percent, than about 1 percent for driving.
"The economy is in such bad shape. ... They're still really hesitant to take that trip," said Beth Mosher, spokeswoman for AAA Chicago.
Travelers in the New York City area also had to deal with the unsettling news that federal authorities were warning law enforcement personnel of a possible al-Qaida terror plot against the subway system during the holiday season.
An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system.
Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said the warning was issued "out of an abundance of caution going into this holiday season."
No changes were being made to the nation's threat level or for transit systems at this time, he said.
"However, transit passengers in larger metropolitan areas like New York may see an increased security presence in the coming days. This includes uniformed and plain clothed behavior detection officers, federal air marshals, canine teams, and security inspectors," Knocke said.
CBS 2's Magee Hickey contributed to this report.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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