The past six weeks have seen slowly worsening turmoil at airports around the nation, and while the future of air travel in America is starting to brighten, one Texas expert says she's seen this kind of airport confusion before and it's no reason to put off travel plans for late this year or next year.
Congress is working to reopen large portions of the federal government after a 42-day closure, and frequent flyers are starting to see some relief from the airport confusion coming soon.
As one of the most experienced of Texas travel experts, though, Catherine Banks of Legacy Travel Company says she remembers a time in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan had to decide what to do about air traffic controllers who had walked off the job in a union protest, leaving air travel under great stress.
"I was flying right in the thick of it, and I remember it very well and it felt very much like this [these days]," she says.
Back then, President Reagan decided to fire the striking air traffic controllers, setting back the labor union movement considerably, but that's a story for another time.
"I remember sitting around the airport, and it was (and is) a major pain, for sure."
As was true in 1981, there may be trouble getting through delays at the airports, but most flights are actually still going -- so just because somebody else had a problem doesn't mean you're going to have a problem.
Attempts by the US Senate to end the federal government shutdown will likely help alleviate some of the stress felt by airline passengers lately.
Ms. Banks says it's a shame that Congress was being paid their full salaries during the shutdown, "but that's a story for another time."
The important thing is to remember that as much of a pain as air travel has been lately, this is only temporary.
"This isn't going to last forever, this is a short-term problem, so if you're contemplating planning a vacation for next year or late in this year, don't hold off doing that," Ms. Banks advises.
Plus this might be a good time to buy air travel tickets for sometime beyond the government shutdown because volume of travel is a below normal right now, thanks to flight uncertainties.
And with Congress doing what it needs to do to make air travel smoother and safer, the stress of travel may be easing soon before we get into the crush of the holiday season, she says.
We hope -- but that's a story for another time.