FAA issues nationwide ground stop: Travel agent speaks

Because this is a perfect segue. Tom Carr is joining us from La Macchia Travel Agency. We had all those people there standing at their airline gate. Tom, obviously they want answers. We can save those people some time, can't we? I mean, those airlines aren't going to know anything. Exactly. I mean, right now, I was just talking to my team here as we're reaching out to all our customers that are going to be traveling in the next few days and kind of prepping them. But this is about, what, an hour, hour and 20 minutes old. And I think we, you know, I've been watching the news. We've been listening. There's been a lot of reporting going on, but there's a lot of reporting to nothing. We don't know anything yet. I've had people call and ask about insurance, rebooking. The people that you were just talking to right there at the airport in line, they're there. they're in the thick of it And they don't have the answers yet either. So we, heck, I would love to be able to break a story for you guys right now and tell you something, but it is, it's a wait and see at the moment. In all of your time working at a travel agency, have you ever experienced anything like this? Because, you know, You know, what can you compare this to? You know what, it's, I was, I was working for September 11th, very similar, you know, I don't want to say similar, complete, complete different reaction. But the, the phrase FAA is shut down nationally. I'm really struck a chord and really hurt. And it really made me and the team stop and think, oh, what's going to happen? How you know, how are we going to respond to this? First and foremost, we think about the clients. We want to try to minimize the inconvenience that they're going to experience. But sadly, we also got to be realistic about it. There's going to be an inconvenience and anybody that's in the airport right now waiting for answers, we highly recommend stick around, see if you can get answers. Dealing with the airlines directly when you're face-to-face with them is one of the best solutions. And as a travel advisor, and I apologize if I'm jumping ahead on this, I haven't seen many situations like this to go back I can answer your question other than September 11th, but is, um, As a passenger, you need to make sure you have your airline app downloaded. You need to make sure that the airlines are texting you directly and staying in communication with them or your travel agent. So, Tom, we only have like 20 seconds here, but at what point should they pick up the phone and call you back? Because right now I know you don't have any answers for them. At some point, we've got to get all these people out. So what should they do? Well, basically, stay close to your phone. You're going to get text updated. The app from the airlines, without a doubt, is going to be the most efficient and quickest because you don't have to sit on hold. You don't have to wait. They're going to give you your options to be able to rebook or they're going to tell you it's canceled. Our clients, I can only speak on behalf of the Lamarckia Travel clients. We're in contact with them right now. We'll be working with them and we will give them that same advice as well. The stay, if you're communicating with your app or a text, that is by far the quickest and most efficient way to communicate with the airlines. And again, just be patient. Yeah, this is why you get paid the big bucks for days like today, Tom. Thanks for coming on. This is going to be a good weekend, guys. It's going to be a good weekend. You'll be busy. And we appreciate you taking some time with us.