Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Thanksgiving Travel Will Be Down

Aired November 20, 2001 - 06:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: On the eve of the busiest travel time in America, a new airline safety bill has been signed into law, but cheap gasoline is expected to lure a record number of motorists, so they can get on the road to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

CNN's Tim O'Brien has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Aviation Security Bill that President Bush signed into law is aimed at making air travel safer than it has ever been.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've made funds available to the aviation industry to fortify cockpits. More federal air marshals now ride on our airplanes. Our National Guard protects us in our airports.

O'BRIEN: The National Guard, with their automatic weapons, is but one of several visible differences at U.S. airports since September 11. Others include much longer lines at the metal detectors, new carry-on restrictions, and you might want to keep your government-issued photo I.D. handy. You may be asked to show it at check in, at security and again upon boarding the plane.

It all may be too late for Thanksgiving. Aviation industry officials are predicting a sharp decline in holiday travel.

MICHAEL WASCOM, AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION: Thanksgiving is always the busiest travel week of the year, without a doubt, but this year, we're predicting, on average, a 15 to 20 percent reduction in passengers this holiday season.

O'BRIEN: But Wascom says that traffic accidents have claimed more lives in the U.S. in any given three-month period than all domestic air crashes put together.

JEFF RUNGE, NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION: In a country, where it is 26 times as risky to your life to drive on the highways as it is to fly on a plane, we should be focused on highway safety.

O'BRIEN: With the big airlines cutting flights, and the big oil companies cutting gasoline prices, the percentage of holiday travelers taking to the road is expected to be higher than ever.

MANTILL WILLIAMS, AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION: About 87 percent, or 9 out of every 10 people, will be going by car, so we do have a larger percentage of people traveling by car. And it is the largest percentage of people that we have ever tracked going by car, since we've been looking at holiday travel -- Thanksgiving travel.

O'BRIEN (on camera): The percentage of holiday travelers driving is up, but the actual number of people on the road is expected to be down, around 1-and-a-half percent. So for many Americans, home for the holidays, this year, will mean staying at their own home, rather than visiting relatives and friends at theirs.

Tim O'Brien, CNN Financial News, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.