I consider myself lucky that I no longer have to travel on holiday weekends. When my kids were young, vacations had to be planned around their school breaks, which always coincided with a holiday. But since then, I’ve avoided those crowded travel times. This is twofold; I’m graciously giving space to families with school time constraints and selfishly circumventing my own stress level brought on from overcrowded airports and delayed flights.
This past 4th of July, in the comfort of my home, I watched the news and saw the same reporting as last year. Every year it is the same thing. People couple their vacation with an extra day off only to find themselves sleeping in an airport or stranded in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Mobile, Alabama bridge to Florida.
Basic Economics
When I do fly, which is often and, again, not on holidays, I find most of the planes I’m on are full. If I remember correctly, it was the 1970’s when Southwest Airlines upset the apple cart and made airfare affordable to everyone. Thus, consumer demand to fly increased and planes became full of passengers. To accommodate the growth, airlines made their seats smaller, to squeeze in more people, and they ran more routes.
Today, from the looks of things, most airports are at capacity. So, what is the next solution? Build more airports? Make more planes? Or go back to basics? When supply cannot keep up with demand, you raise prices.
Remember FOB’s
My mother-in-law is Ann McCoy, whose career in the 80’s and 90’s was working for the Clintons. When Bill Clinton was the Governor of Arkansas, she ran the Governor’s Mansion. When Clinton became president, she moved to Washington, DC and served as his social secretary in the East Wing. She is like family to them.
Because I was home and not traveling on July 4th, I was available for a late invite from Ann. It just so happened she and some of her old cronnies, aka “Friends of Bill”, were invited to watch the fireworks from the best place in Little Rock, Clinton’s private apartment atop the Clinton Library. And I got to tag along!
Lucky again.
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