Smooth sailing/ Busiest travel day causes few local hitches

The busiest travel day of the year was smooth sailing for most people using the Colorado Springs Airport on Sunday.

Flights were mostly on time, baggage made it home and passengers said their journeys back to the Springs went like clockwork.

"There were no problems. It was pretty routine, pretty smooth," said Stephanie Vallarino, a junior at the Air Force Academy. Vallarino was returning from Dallas, where she spent the Thanksgiving holiday.

David Vanyperen agreed with Vallarino. His trip from Newark, N.J., went without delays.

Many passengers arriving from hubs such as Dallas, Denver and Phoenix said they didn't experience the cancellations and lengthy delays that had been feared because of recent airline labor problems.

At 4 p.m., all the flights scheduled to arrive in the Springs were on time except for one, which was only two minutes late. One American Airlines flight was actually listed as arriving early.

Still, airline employees said Sunday lived up to its expectations of being very busy.

"There were less than 10 empty seats all day," said Delta Airlines customer service agent Keith Kanter.

Kanter said none of Delta's eight flights serving the Springs had been canceled, but Delta had to bump three passengers off the last flight.

They were given $350 vouchers for future Delta flights, a normal procedure.

"They were happy," Kanter said. "They'll get on a flight in the morning."

Sunday wasn't the only busy travel day. Many people chose to fly on Thanksgiving Day because of cheaper tickets and the hope of less crowded flights.

But, alas, no luck.

A Northwest Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Colorado Springs on Thursday afternoon was full, and many other airlines were asking customers to give up their seats for vouchers and later flights.

Roads also were crowded.

An officer for the Colorado State Patrol said traffic seemed to be busier than usual.

AAA predicted 6.1 million people in the West would drive at least 100 miles for the holiday, a 7 percent increase from last year.

"Thanksgiving has really become the holiday to travel home," said AAA Colorado spokeswoman Mary Greer.

The Colorado State Patrol said information on fatalities, drunken driving arrests and seat belt enforcement statewide during the Thanksgiving weekend won't be available until today.

- Edited by Mike Braham. Headline by Andy Obermueller

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