To fly or not to fly? That is the spring break family question.
I learned long ago in my parenting journey that a family trip in the car is not easy. We decided a few years ago to drive to Disney World instead of fly. We had never been before.
We could have our car to get around in at our leisure, and renting a boat with wheels for six is no cheap affair. After all, it’s only six hours away, and with “cheaper equals better” as our trusted family motto, we proceeded confidently. (Enter: false optimism free fall.)
Somewhere between McDonough and Macon things took a turn. Have you ever experienced the effects of a stomach virus for hours on end in extremely close proximity? Picture an enclosed space, such as an SUV?
I wouldn’t recommend it.
It’s a real assault on the senses. (Let’s just say it’s an immersive experience.) This isn’t even addressing how miserable it was for the poor, sick soul, who will remain nameless for dignity’s sake.
If we had flown, would this travel experience have been easier? Harder?
Eternal questions that one wrestles with daily. It’s often a crapshoot.
We planned months ago for our family to fly to the beach this spring break. That’s oodles of swimsuits, sunglasses, flip-flops and bags full of tiny travel lotions.
Phones and earbuds are at the ready, and all is well with travel as usual … except traveling hasn’t been usual at Hartsfield-Jackson lately.
How exactly are families with children supposed to plan air travel in the midst of a chaotic airport environment with the aforementioned crapshoot decision? Just a few short days ago there was at least a four-hour wait because of the government shutdown.
(That translates to at least three full-feature Disney movies if you’re a seasoned parent like me who interprets long waits with kids in terms of screen distraction.)
It puts a new, urgent spin on the trip planning question of parents with kids: To fly or not to fly?
The government shutdown, which started over a month ago, left around 50,000 TSA agents nationwide with no pay. Over 300 agents quit to find better jobs, and 40-50% of workers were not showing up to work.
It’s no fault of the devoted workers who show up or choose to not show up. These federal employees are in a lose-lose situation, with both the right and the left to blame in Washington.
According to TSA Deputy Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, there is a 500% increase in assaults against TSA workers since the government shutdown began Feb. 14, as many people are placing blame where it is not due.
The impasse in Washington is not directly correlated to the quality of work that TSA agents perform. There are simply not enough of them to effectively do the job in airports across the nation.
With training time being four to six months for TSA agents, it looks like sending U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to airports is about as helpful as a 6-year-old offering to “help with dinner.” Well intended, but not exactly time-saving.
My kids’ thoughts on the airport situation run the gamut along with my own: “We’re cooked, we have to get up so early”; “It’s going to be fine, they’re (TSA agents) getting paid now”; and last but not least, “It doesn’t matter, I just hope we don’t fly over the Bermuda Triangle.”
All logical and rational travel thoughts.
As an Atlantan, I know road traffic well. It’s a lot like having a baby; you have to know when to relax and when to push, remembering to breathe through the whole thing, staying calm and hopeful you’ll get through it safely.
Most Atlantans are not intimidated by a little congestion or delays on the road, however this isn’t normal traffic. It has looked like I-285 at rush hour with human logjams instead of cars.
Many families who purchased trip insurance are saying “No thanks, we’ll just do a staycation instead.” My neighbors canceled their big out-West experience and opted for a drivable beach trip with three kids under age 6. Smart move.
Those who haven’t purchased trip insurance, can’t avoid the flight or have to travel out of necessity are going to be doing a lot of hand-wringing before the airport.
Atlanta is a proud FIFA World Cup host city with matches beginning in June. Will more TSA agents be retained and fully paid before families of global soccer fans come to Hartsfield-Jackson?
Will the world’s busiest airport be a deterrent to travelers and a national embarrassment? That remains to be seen.
Families, if like me your spring break plans include the airport, when you finally get to sit on that plane, remember whose fault it was that you bit your fingernails to the quick about wait times: not TSA agents, not the pilot, not the flight attendants, not your spouse, not your kids.
It is entirely the fault of our elected officials in Washington.
We should show more grace to the former and less to the latter. I’m even going to try and take a moment to be thankful for getting the opportunity to travel with my family and that no one has a stomach virus … yet.
Beth Collums is an Atlanta-based writer with a professional background in child and family therapy. She often writes about mental health, relationships and education.
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