AP: U.S. Travelers Filling Airlines

[Dao Van <daotb@yahoo.com>]

NOVEMBER 25, 04:24 EST

U.S.  Travelers Filling Airlines

By MELANIE CARROLL Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) ^× Big Bird was getting bigger and so were 11-year-old Matt
Rosati's eyes. 

``How much longer to fill it up?'' he asked a man
trying to put life into a partially inflated balloon of the
``Sesame
Street'' star.  A little while longer, Matt was told. 

``I would love to be hired to fill up the balloons,''
he said on the eve of today's 73rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 
``You get a much better view and get to see the simple mechanics of
it.''

The parade included more than 25 balloons and novelties including
Snoopy, Garfield and a new addition ^× a 37-foot Honey Nut Cheerios bee. 

Other helium-filled critters include Bert and Ernie, the Quik Bunny,
Barney and Wild Thing, a character based on the Maurice Sendak classic
``Where the Wild Things Are.''

For many, the wild scenes were on the road. 

The American Automobile Association predicted almost 28 million people
would drive 100 miles or more in the week and a half surrounding
Thanksgiving. 

``I would rather wait here than in traffic,'' said
19-year-old Mariel Focseneaunu who was killing time before her New
York-bound train at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. 

Airlines expected a record 19.8 million passengers ^× 10 percent more
than last year ^× while Greyhound Lines rented extra buses and Amtrak put
more trains on the tracks and more cars on its trains. 

Workers at Detroit International Airport handed out baskets of candy and
greeted children with coloring books and face painters.  Strolling
entertainers were scheduled to perform through the holiday. 

``The airport is more fun on the holidays,'' said
airport spokesman Mike Conway. 
``It's more colorful this time of year.''

By midday Wednesday, about 10,000 Thanksgiving travelers had passed
through Boston's South Station, up about 20 percent over last year, said
manager Kevin Scullin. 

In Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, 37 flights were delayed for
up to 20 minutes when a fire broke out in Christmas decorations.  There
were no injuries. 

At Newark International Airport, Heidi Smook, 20, who was going home to
South Africa, had just one concern. 

``I'm just going to sit, read magazines, watch people
go by, and figure out how I can use the ladies room while looking after
all my bags,'' she said. 

The nation's airspace and interstates are booming this season in part
because of the increased use of the Internet to get cheaper travel
arraignments and the robust economy, experts said. 

A downside is that the cost of today's feast has gone up.  The average
cost of cooking a holiday meal for 10 people is $33.83 this year, up 74
cents from 1998, according to a nationwide annual survey by the American
Farm Bureau Federation. 

The meal includes turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter,
peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie and
coffee and milk. 

Drivers also are paying more for gas than last year, with fuel prices
averaging about $1.28 per gallon of regular unleaded, up from
$1.06 last year, the American
Automobile Association said. 

Yet the increased costs have not exactly put a damper on traffic. 

At Los Angeles International Airport, passenger counts have been running
5 percent higher than 1998 levels, said Nancy Castles of the Los Angeles
Department of Airports. 

Fred Foley, a homeless man who was having a free Thanksgiving meal at
Boston's Statehouse, offered a simple wish for the holiday season ^× a
wish that had a double meaning for weary travelers. 

``I just wish everybody gets off the street, that's
all,'' he said. 
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