How many will travel over the Easter Weekend? A lot. Thousands of Americans will travel by air over the Easter Weekend (http://www.itv.com/news/channel/2018-03-30/almost-22-000-expected-to-pass-through-jerseys-airport-over-easter-weekend/) .
One thing that helps this total are the number of private religious affiliated or faith based schools which connect their Spring Break to the Easter holiday.
Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, celebrates the resurrection from death to life of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The weekend begins with Good Friday, which commemorates the death of Jesus Christ on a Roman cross. I was once asked by a Jewish friend when he first learned of the events of Good Friday, “Why is it good then”? Although Jesus Christ was declared innocent by the ruling monarchy he was put to death on a cross. The death absorbed the wrath of God to pay the penalty of sin for all those that will repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ’s payment for their sin. That is why it is called Good Friday. Therefore Good Friday and Easter are considered the most important days of the year by followers of Christ – surpassing Christmas.
In addition to the significant and primary purpose of the Easter weekend, it is also a weekend that many family and friends try to join together. It is not on par with Christmas travel, but still a surge in travel is felt each year around holiday (i.e. holy day).
Thousands of Americans will fly around the weekend. This number is spurred by the relatively strong economy, low unemployment, and relatively low fuel prices resulting in less expensive air fares.
Meanwhile, thousands of more Americans will travel by automobile. Here is the irony. Although flying is often perceived to be more dangerous than driving, many more will die in automobile accidents than in air accidents (if historical trends hold). There was not a single airline fatality in the US in 2017 and it is likely (knock on wood) that there will be none over the Easter weekend. However, on average 102 Americans die in car accidents each day (https://www.forbes.com/2009/11/20/dangerous-holidays-fatalities-lifestyle-vehicles-cars-traffic-accidents.html#65fc16f044d8) . The number is often twice as high on holidays.
This gives pause to those who claim they won’t fly because “it’s too dangerous”.
Many strides have been made in airline safety to the efforts of many. One is Elrey Jeppesen who was chronicled earlier this week in a Doctor Aviation blog (https://doctoraviation.com/who-is-elrey-jeppesen/ ). Be careful as you fly or drive this Easter weekend. 