Sam Sweeney and aviation analyst Clint Henderson discuss the recent aviation close calls.

[0:00] All right, Sam, so let's start with you because those extremely close calls this week and air safety concerns, a lot of people talking about that. [0:07] You are the transportation reporter here. [0:09] You're my partner in crime on the transportation beat. [0:11] You've been keeping up with everything that we've been seeing here. [0:14] So tell us right now, Sam, the question I get every single day, I'm sure you do too, are we seeing more close calls? [0:21] It seems like we are seeing more close calls, but right now the numbers are actually down. [0:26] We saw a huge spike 2022, 2023, the NTSB and the FAA started a working group to reduce those numbers. [0:34] They launched new equipment out, service detection equipment out to a number of different airports, dozens of airports to bring those numbers down. [0:41] And we saw a significant drop, but it may feel like we are seeing a lot more because there are new apps out there that use AI that scan air traffic control feeds. [0:51] So incidents that we may not have heard of before, we are now getting more information. [0:56] We're getting it quicker than ever before, and it's being blasted out like it has never been before because of this new AI technology. [1:03] So you're going to continue to hear about every single little incident that happens throughout the national airspace system. [1:09] Sam, there's a lot of searches right now about air traffic control and that shortage that we've been hearing about for years. [1:15] Is that still a problem? [1:16] It is a problem, and it's going to continue to be a problem for many years because it is very difficult to hire air traffic controllers. [1:24] There's one major facility in Oklahoma City that handles most of the training. [1:29] It is very difficult training, and the washout rate is very high because it is an extremely difficult job. [1:35] And it just takes a long time to get trained up, sometimes three or even four years, to continue and pass that training before you are working in a tower. [1:45] So it's going to take some time, but the administration says they are supercharging, they're hiring, and they hope to be out of this mess within the next couple of years. [1:53] Yeah, you and I have met so many ATC workers, and it is such a hard and stressful job. [1:57] What's being done about all of this? [1:59] They are allowing more colleges and universities across the country to do some of this training. [2:05] They're also bringing in more students to the facility in Oklahoma City. [2:10] They've done some bonuses. [2:12] But, again, it remains very difficult because you can't apply to start your training unless you are under the age of 31. [2:20] And then you have to retire by the time you're 56. [2:23] So it's a very small window that you can actually work. [2:27] It's not worth training someone if they're older than 31. [2:30] Okay, so the other question that you and I always get here, is it less safe to fly now? [2:36] Flying is safe. [2:37] It is the safest form of transportation. [2:40] You're much more likely to be injured or killed driving to the airport for your flight than you are on an airplane. [2:46] There are more than 50,000 flights every single day in the air above the United States. [2:52] And most of the time, almost all of the time, there are no issues. [2:56] But when there is an issue, we do hear about it. [2:58] So it sounds scary. [3:00] But, again, flying is the safest form of transportation. [3:03] I am so glad you watch all of this so closely, Flores. [3:06] Sam, sweetie, thank you so much. [3:08] All right, so all of your searches now about what's going on in the air seem to be tied to that summer travel season that's almost upon us. [3:14] Let's bring in here travel expert Clint Henderson on what you need to know to catch those flights. [3:19] All right, Clint, so a lot of people are searching and they want to know how to save money on that summer travel. [3:25] Yeah, I've got bad news for folks out there. [3:27] The jet fuel crisis combined with just fares going up across the board means they're going to pay about 10% more summer travel year over year. [3:36] That's from data from our partners at PointsPath. [3:39] So get ready to pay more potentially. [3:42] Okay, that's a problem. [3:43] We know that the price of tickets now is up. [3:45] So people want to know, I guess as a follow-up to that, will the prices go down? [3:50] I don't think prices are going to go down. [3:52] In fact, United Airlines is saying that they may raise prices again and they may stay high. [3:57] So some tips to save some money. [3:59] Use Google Flights to track prices. [4:02] So see if the fare drops. [4:03] There's new artificial intelligence tools that will actually track your flights for you and issue automatic trip credits if the price drops. [4:11] So you can feel a little more confident booking. [4:13] Don't book basic economy, though, because then you won't be eligible for trip credits. [4:17] Try combining flights and hotels with vacation packages offered by some third-party online travel agencies or even the airline vacation packages. [4:26] You can save up to 4% by combining your flights and hotels together. [4:30] So those ticket prices are up because of that jet fuel crisis, right? [4:33] So where do things stand there? [4:35] Yeah, so we're seeing fares on the average domestically up about 10% for summer travel. [4:41] Internationally, up as much as 20%. [4:43] So really, that's concerning. [4:46] But we're telling people at the point, say, go ahead and book all your trips for the rest of the year now, including Christmas, because you want to lock in things in case prices continue to rise. [4:54] You know, we've seen jet fuel increase more than 50%, but it could go higher if they were in crisis drags on longer. [5:01] So lock in those fares. [5:03] Yeah, lock in those fares. [5:05] Okay, Clint, so people are also searching for how to be prepared for any travel disruptions. [5:10] Yeah, so you want to be an educated consumer. [5:13] Have the airline app installed on your phone. [5:15] You know these tips very well, Gio. [5:17] You want to make sure you have the customer service phone number. [5:19] Follow the airline on social media, because you want to be among the first to get rebooked if things go wrong. [5:25] Remember, if it's weather, they don't owe you a refund. [5:27] But if they cancel your flight for any reason, you will get an automatic refund. [5:32] And on those airline apps, you can actually text directly with customer service with the airline. [5:36] That's a very, very fast way to do it, too. [5:38] Okay, so what are the top trending summer destinations for 2026? [5:42] Let's talk about the fun stuff. [5:43] Yeah, so it's not going to surprise you. [5:45] The World Cup ticket cities are among the biggest. [5:49] Kansas City, Missouri, Sarasota, Florida. [5:52] The San Francisco Bay Area, where I'm from, I love seeing this back on the list. [5:56] It's a popular place for the summer travel season. [5:58] Missoula, Montana joins forces with some other cities in Montana, so big sky country. [6:04] Internationally, really interesting. [6:05] St. Martin in the Caribbean, where you can do plane spotting from Maho Beach. [6:09] That's the number one search destination, according to Google. [6:12] So really interesting there. [6:14] And then Mexico City, Stockholm in Sweden, some really fun cities on the list this year. [6:20] Oh, St. Martin is beautiful, but so is Montana. [6:22] Montana is gorgeous.