AVOCA, Pa. — Travel agent Faith Ann Bartholomew says there's only one phrase to describe what the industry's been like for the past year and a half.
"A roller coaster."
That roller coaster is currently speeding uphill. Bartholomew says she can hardly get away from her desk at her home office near Moscow.
"The last few weeks, everybody is ready to go, and they want to go now."
She says typically, people will call to book trips several months to a year out.
Now, clients are wanting to leave in two to three weeks from when they call.
"In the past, it was like, 'OK, we'll call, I'll send you a quote.' It'll be a day or two, I'll check in, and say 'Hey, how ya doin?' 'Well, we didn't decide yet.' Now, they call, and before I can even say 'OK, this is what it is,' they're like, 'Oh no, we're booking it, let's go.'"
Passengers we spoke to at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport say the airports they were coming from in bigger cities definitely seemed more crowded than usual.
"Yes, they were. I'd say so, pretty packed," said Karen Howard, who's originally from Wyalusing.
"We left from Reno, Nevada, and then directly to Charlotte, and Charlotte was very crowded," said Fred Howard.
"Coming from Charlotte, it was pretty busy down there. It's like a sea of people," said Caroline Rock from Binghamton.
The federal mask mandate for public transportation still applies to everyone, regardless of whether you've gotten the COVID-19 vaccine.
Travelers we talked to weren't worried about the current uptick in cases.
"Not at all," said Karen Howard.
"Not really. I mean, the masks are very uncomfortable. We've both been jabbed and all that kind of thing, and I wish we didn't have to wear the masks," said Fred Howard.
"You know, we're vaccinated and ready to go. I think everybody is. They just want to get back and start living again," said Rock.
The airline industry is short-staffed though, and having trouble handling the increase in travelers.
"It's industry-wide. We're on hold for hours, we're trying to get through to people, and they just don't have the staff," said Bartholomew.
Although business is certainly picking up for the travel industry, Bartholomew says she expects it will still take another six to eight months for agents to recover their losses from the beginning of the pandemic, when traveling was at a standstill.