Going home for the holidays? SLO County airport ‘fairly busy’ ahead of Christmas
It was by no means holiday hectic, but the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport was bustling on Wednesday as droves of travelers converged on the airport two days before Christmas.
Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, as several flights arrived and at least two prepared to board, the drop-off and pickup lane at the airport was full.
Dozens of people dashed into and out of the San Luis Obispo airport’s terminals on their way to holiday destinations despite warnings from local and state officials regarding travel.
San Luis Obispo County airport spokesperson Katie Franco said she expects “a fairly busy travel period between now and Jan. 4.”
“As with Thanksgiving, we won’t have the passenger counts until after the holiday, but anecdotally, there are currently more cars in the parking lot than there were last week,” Franco wrote in an email to The Tribune.
SLO County holiday travel well below normal levels
A large number of holiday travelers would be a boon for the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, which saw a sharp drop in travel when the coronavirus pandemic began earlier this year.
The number of people traveling through the airport has steadily increased since the summer, though it was still markedly below the usual totals compared with the year before, according to statistics published on the airport’s website.
A total of 22,701 travelers passed through the airport in November, down 50.7% from the same month in 2019. The number of people traveling through the airport dropped by about 2,000 people between October and November, according to the statistics.
That contradicted national estimates that the number of people traveling around the Thanksgiving weekend would be only about 10% less than 2019.
At the time, AAA estimated that about 50 million people across the country would travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, a 10% decline from 2019. As of Dec. 10, the auto club said the decline was likely to be between 15 and 20%.
For the Christmas holiday, AAA estimated as many as 84.5 million Americans will travel between Wednesday and Jan. 3. This would be a decline in holiday travel of about 29%, compared to 2019, according to AAA.
“While Thanksgiving is traditionally spent gathering with friends and family, the year-end holidays are when Americans often venture out for longer, more elaborate vacations. That will not be the case this year,” AAA travel senior vice president Paula Twidale said in a news release. “Public health concerns, official guidance not to travel, and an overall decline in consumer sentiment have encouraged the vast majority of Americans to stay home for the holidays.”
Notably, AAA estimates that 2.9 million people are expected to book airline flights for the holidays — a decline of 60% year-over-year.
Instead, more Americans are expected to travel by car this holiday, AAA said, because of the “flexibility, security and comfort traveling by car provides.”
SLO County officials warn against holiday travel, gatherings
Though hundreds of local residents were likely already en route to other locations as of Wednesday, San Luis Obispo County health officials have warned against holiday travel.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, local coronavirus cases surged. On Tuesday, the county announced the most new daily cases yet, 258, and the number of active cases jumped to more than 2,000.
Officials attributed this to a “second generation” of cases spread during Thanksgiving holidays.
“This surge in cases means the risk has gone up for all of us in SLO County,” county Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said in a news release. “Every activity now carries more risk of getting or spreading COVID-19 than it did even a few weeks ago.
“We must all do our part to make sure we do not fuel this surge during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays. Please: wear a mask, stay home if you are sick and avoid gathering with people outside your household.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 1:17 PM.
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