As hundreds of flights are cancelled and delayed at Boston Logan Airport, Suffolk students’ plans to travel home for the holidays are up in the air.
The Federal Aviation Administration reduced air traffic by 10% at 40 “high volume” markets across the United States starting Nov. 7. This includes Boston Logan International Airport, as air traffic controllers face increasing strain amid the country’s longest government shutdown to date.
Four days into the reduction at Logan, 147 flights had to be cancelled and 473 faced delays, according to flight statistic tracker Flight Aware Nov. 10.
For Raffaella Shanahan, a senior at Suffolk, traveling home to spend Thanksgiving with her family in Roswell, Georgia, has become an important tradition for her. But this year, she worries about what obstacles she might face trying to make it home in time.
“With this being the last time I will have this much time off for Thanksgiving, it makes me sad to know I might not be able to see my family,” said Shanahan.
Even with CLEAR and TSA Pre-Check, Shanahan is also concerned about making it through security at the two major airports in Boston and Atlanta.
“I am a seasoned traveler since I go to college out of state. Usually, nothing really worries me about traveling, but when I heard this news, I got scared,” said Shanahan. “It is very hard to live so far away, and it is school breaks like these that make it easier.”
The possibility of facing higher costs for flights, both on first booking and if picking a new flight last minute, is another stressor for out-of-state students preparing to fly home.
“On top of college costs and paying for basic necessities, increases in airfare costs, for tickets and checked baggage, just isn’t something I can sustain right now,” said Alex Lakies, a Suffolk senior who plans to fly home to Detroit the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Controlling what they can to make the uncertainty as manageable as possible is part of Lakies’ plan, as they hope for the best for their upcoming travels.
“Being an out-of-state student, I don’t really have any easier options for getting home for breaks. I can only imagine what it’s like for people flying further distances; it’s only around a two-hour direct flight from Boston to Detroit,” said Lakies. “I plan on packing a bit lighter when I can, in case a flight gets canceled or delayed, so I don’t have to lug too much stuff around while I figure out what I’m doing.”
