Friendly skies for local travelers

VALPARAISO - It was easy to spot Ute and Franziska Schroff at Northwest Florida Regional Airport on Wednesday morning.
   
They were the only travelers there at 9:15 a.m. The first leg of their flight to Atlanta wasn't expected to leave until 10:45 a.m.
   
"We thought it was going to be packed," Ute said. "We didn't want to miss our flight."
   
Instead of rushing through security and pushing past other passengers, the Schroffs enjoyed a cup of coffee and browsed through the airport's gift shop. They were told at the ticket counter that Tuesday had been much busier than the day before Thanksgiving.
   
The Schroffs are in the minority this holiday season. The Automobile Association of America expects about 600,000 fewer people to travel more than 50 miles from their homes this Thanksgiving.
   
"The economy is in such bad shape ... They're still really hesitant to take that trip," said Beth Mosher, a spokeswoman for AAA.
   
Still, Ute and Franziska Schroff will join the 41 million Americans traveling this week, even if they aren't traveling specifically for the holiday.
   
"It's my grandmother's 70th birthday," Franziska said before she and her mother left for Germany.
   
Franziska, 18, was born in Los Angeles and lives in Fort Walton Beach, but she also lived 10 years in her mother's native Germany and travels there often.
   
"We don't have Thanksgiving in Germany, so we won't even be going there to eat," she said.
   
Instead, the mother and daughter will visit friends and family and shop.
   
"We travel a lot," added Franziska, who did note that she has cut back on her trips this year because of finances.
   
"But it's not really the economy," Ute laughed. "She's 18 now and pays rent and buys her own plane tickets."
   
Ute said she's not really seen a huge change in international airline ticket prices this year. She priced tickets to Miami at $509 and Jacksonville at $750 recently. The ticket to Germany only was $750.
   
"The biggest change in money and flying we've seen is extras," said Ute, who added that meals, assigned seats and baggage checks sometimes cost more.
   
The women already are planning Christmas trips to Tennessee and Miami.
   
Greg Donovan, Okaloosa County's airports director, said solid numbers aren't in, yet. However, he expects airlines to report business close to or just under last year.
   
Donovan said inbound flights have been busy, but outbound flights are more spread out because of Air Force schedules and school releases. Outbound flights for Sunday and Monday are near capacity, he added.
   
"We're probably going to be a little more resilient here than nationally," Donovan said.
   
Graeme Wallace, chief technical officer for farecompare.com, a consumer airline ticket research Web site, said it may take until after the first of the year before airlines know if recent fare reductions attracted many more travelers. He said in his recent experience, business flights have been crowded but leisure flights are often half empty.
   
"With the economy tanking, they're thinking, ‘Do I want to spend $400 for a 1,200 mile trip?' " Wallace said.