New Study Warns Airport Congestion Becoming Year Round Problem
By David Madden
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Many of you will be taking to the skies over Thanksgiving, and we all know what kind of a hassle that can be at the airport. But imagine for a moment if things were that busy on a regular basis. A travel lobbying group in Washington D.C. says that could happen sooner than you think.
Many of the nation's top 30 airports already experience Thanksgiving-eve type congestion one day a week, according to the survey released yesterday by the U.S. Travel Association. Erik Hansen is a policy director there and expects Philadelphia to join that list next year.
"One day per week is really going to look like Thanksgiving travel, so what we're seeing is that there's a lot of congestion at the Philadelphia airport." Hansen says. "We can't say which day of the week it's going to be. That changes by year, by season, by the amount of flights that are available."
The congestion can be blamed on growing demand, along with little, if any expansion, although Philadelphia is working a $6.4 billion plan to do that. The group suggests a major governmental shot in the arm to improve airport infrastructure nationwide sooner rather than later, because, if not, Hansen says every day could feel like Thanksgiving at PHL in less than 20 years.
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