SLO County airport sees steady stream of holiday travelers, despite public health warning
A steady stream of travelers filed through San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
There were no long lines at check-in or going through security, but seats in the waiting areas were quickly snatched up as mask-bedecked San Luis Obispo County residents joined the millions of Americans expected to travel for Thanksgiving this year in spite of recommendations to avoid travel.
Aviatrix Communications owner Katie Franco, whose firm manages media comment for the local airport, said airport officials have seen a consistent flow of holiday travelers this week — closer to what they might normally see at this time of year if there were not a global pandemic.
“This holiday week we are seeing increased passenger numbers, and are expecting most flights to be fairly full,” she said.
Franco said in March that airline traffic at the San Luis Obispo airport fell 90% compared with the year before — but since then it has been steadily increasing.
As of October, the most recent month with data available, the airport was at about 50% of usual traffic, and Franco said she expects it will be even closer to normal in November.
Though numbers are not yet available to estimate the number of local people traveling for Thanksgiving, AAA estimated in October that about 50 million people nationwide will travel for the holiday this year.
That’s only about 10% below the 55 million who traveled in 2019, according to AAA.
AAA noted that the October estimate was made before another national surge in coronavirus cases in early November, which could impact the actual number of travelers.
In all, Franco said she thinks the San Luis Obispo airport is seeing comparable numbers of travelers to the rest of the country.
Several safety measures have been instated at the airport to help reduce the risk of coronavirus spread including requiring all passengers to wear masks and setting up outdoor tables and seating areas for people to wait, according to a news release Tuesday.
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