CINCINNATI — Here’s something to be thankful for — less pain at the pumps. Motorists on their way to Thanksgiving Day feasts Wednesday savored sharply lower gas prices.

However, the economic crisis still kept some people at home. Highway traffic was light in many places across Ohio, and airports reported less-hectic conditions than usual for the day before a major holiday.

Airline check-in areas were nearly deserted at times Wednesday at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, and security lines also were fairly short.
“With today’s economy and the state of the aviation industry, there are about 20 percent fewer flights this Thanksgiving, compared to last Thanksgiving,” explained Angie Tabor, an airport spokeswoman. “So, we do see less passengers in the terminal.”

Tabor said flights that were taking off Wednesday were full. The Columbus airport now has 155 daily departures, down from 193 a year ago.

The situation was similar at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky., where travelers were zipping through security lines within a few minutes.

“I think we’re down some; how much, I don’t know yet,” said airport spokesman Ted Bushelman.

Travel experts expected holiday travel to be off this year, even with lower gas prices, because of the nation’s credit crunch and rising unemployment. However, with airline cutbacks, there was still difficulty in late booking of flights.

In the Cleveland area, travel agency owner Kim Gray handled a steady stream of calls Wednesday, mostly from business travelers trying to get earlier flights home before the holiday. There weren’t many seats available.

“We call the airline to see if there is an earlier flight. If not, and a lot of them are completely sold out, they basically go to the airport and get on a standby list,” said Gray, who owns the Travel Leaders agency in North Olmsted. “It’s pretty constant.”

The toughest routes to get earlier pre-holiday flights: New York, Chicago and Boston to Cleveland. There were more seats to fly to Cleveland from Nashville, Tenn., and Los Angeles.

The Daily Fuel Gauge Report from AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express showed the statewide average price for regular-grade gas at about $1.68. The average last Thanksgiving week was $3.07.

Dale England, 44, of Atlanta, stopped for coffee Wednesday morning at the Interstate 75 rest area 30 miles north of Cincinnati. He said if gas prices had remained at $4 a gallon in Georgia, which was beset by shortages after late-summer Gulf Coast hurricanes disrupted oil refineries, he might have missed his family’s holiday get-together in Detroit.

“I probably would have held off coming up for Thanksgiving and waited for Christmas,” he said.

He filled up for $1.59 a gallon and left Atlanta before midnight to avoid traffic. 

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