A ‘golden summer of cheap flights’ or more airport meltdowns? A preview of summer travel season

More than 45 million Americans embracing a Memorial Day getaway. About 1.86 million passengers surging through O’Hare and Midway international airports. And nearly 2 million Illinoisans embarking on a road trip.

The summer vacation season is taking off, but so are concerns about air traffic controller shortages, aviation communication glitches and economic volatility affecting gas prices.

Here’s advice from experts on air safety, bargain fares and how fuel costs will impact your escape.

First, telecommunications outages at a Philadelphia air traffic control facility and related staffing shortages caused massive delays and cancellations recently at Newark International Airport in New Jersey. The meltdown caused Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to promise an overhaul of 1980s technology and to hire more controllers.

Until that happens, should passengers worry?

“It is absolutely safe and here’s why,” commercial pilot Dennis Tajer of Arlington Heights explained. “Pilots and air traffic controllers have FAA procedures for lost communications. We also have an onboard radar system which displays other aircraft to us. The Traffic Collision Avoidance (TCAS) System not only displays other aircraft to us, but it tells us where their altitude is relative to us, and if they’re moving up or down.”

Procedures for when a pilot loses contact with a controller are “a pretty simple process in the sense of you fly what you were last assigned, and since you can’t go on with that indefinitely, you fly to where you’re expected to be next,” he said.

“Every pilot from Day 1 is trained for what to do if you lose communication,” added Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines aviators.

Another backup is multiple radios to talk to other air traffic control frequencies or airplanes.

The union and other stakeholders are supporting Duffy “who has shown the world this equipment … must be modernized,” Tajer added.

Secondly, what’s the outlook for airfares?

“For the Chicago region, there’s lots of good news about air travel with added service on all the big airlines,” aviation expert and DePaul University Professor Joseph Schwieterman said.

At the same time, “airlines are nervous about weak demand, which will likely result in some discounting. They’re seeing it in bookings … these are data-driven concerns.”

The dip in bookings comes from domestic travelers concerned about the economy and international travelers wary of heightened U.S. border security, experts said.

The upside is bargain fares, Going.com spokesperson Katy Nastro said.

“We’re calling it the golden summer of cheap flights, specifically international flights mostly over to Europe or Canada,” Nastro said. Some fares to Europe in July and August are between $400 and $500 round-trip, with Dublin emerging as an unexpectedly cheap destination.

Third, gasoline is about 40 cents a gallon lower than 2024, but what’s the forecast for July and August?

“A seasonal increase in gas prices starts earlier in the spring, but lower crude oil prices so far this year have kept that from happening,” AAA’s Molly Hart noted.

Typically, costs creep up as the industry switches to a more expensive summer blend.

And inevitably, “gas prices go up in spring and summer when people are taking vacations — more people on the road and then prices drop in fall and winter with less people driving.”

Hart also anticipates a potential hit from tariffs will be seen in northern states along the Canadian border, spreading into the Midwest. Gas prices could increase by 12 to 15 cents per gallon.

Fourth, get to the airport early, advises United Airlines Vice President of O'Hare Omar Idris.

“We’re offering about 66,000 seats a day, so it’s a lot of people over this holiday period,” Idris said, “but we’re ready for it. We’re ready for the weather. We’re ready for anything that may come up.”

May 7 marked the implementation of REAL ID requirements for domestic flyers. Despite fears of problems, “it’s really not been an issue at all,” Idris said, adding United’s app offers tips about the new program.

As for Newark travelers? “For the most part, things have stabilized,” Idris said.