Coronavirus: AAA anticipates possible record-low holiday travel
The summer travel season was supposed to kick off Friday, but airports will look more like ghost towns this year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The summer travel season was supposed to kick off Friday, but airports will look more like ghost towns this year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The American Automobile Association expects the Memorial Day weekend travel to be much different than last year, when 43 million Americans traveled - the second-highest travel volume on record since the agency began tracking the numbers 20 years ago.
"With social distancing guidelines still in practice, this holiday weekend's travel volume is likely to set a record low,'' Paula Twidale, AAA's senior vice president of travel, said in a statement.
AAA says travel over the Memorial Day holiday could rival the organization's previous low record set in 2009.
AAA said it expects to put out a travel forecast for the late summer and fall if states can ease travel restrictions and let businesses reopen.
Despite the grim outlook, there is some glimmers of hope.
"In addition to Memorial Day, airlines are seeing a lot of people buy plane tickets now for July and August," said Brian Sumers, Skift senior aviation business editor.
Sumers did add that the future of travel is uncertain, even if airlines are selling more tickets.
