Summer travel: Wheels, not wings

The sum of many fears ... plus air-travel delays

Scenes like this one -- on the Friday of the Memorial Day weekend at Los Angeles International Airport -- are what some summer-vacation drivers want to avoid by not flying.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It's a ritual of summer: the family vacation. But this year, many people are choosing to hit the roads rather than hop a plane to their destinations.

"Drive vs. fly -- for me it's the convenience of driving, putting all the stuff in the car (vs.) the hassle of going to the airport, waiting in line, packing your stuff and checking it all," says vacationer Christie Stallard.

She and her 5-year-old son and her boyfriend have decided to drive from Washington to Connecticut this year, even though the trip will take five to six hours by car.

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And they're not alone. The Travel Industry Association of America estimates that pleasure trips by motor vehicle will increase almost 3 percent this summer, while plane travel for pleasure will decrease by as much as 4 percent.

"The issue is not whether Americans will be traveling for pleasure this summer -- because we think they will," says Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research for the association. "The issue is really how they will travel, where they will go and what will they do when they get there."

Many people, Cook says, are choosing the car because it's still less expensive than flying. And like Stallard, they prefer the convenience of having all their belongings easily at hand.

But the heightened sense of alert in the air-travel system since last year's terrorist attacks is also part of the equation. Stallard was in the air on September 11.

"We actually flew over the World Trade Center," she recalls, "and with a 5-year-old son it's just a little bit more at ease driving."

Planes up, passengers in line

"Drive vs. fly -- for me it's the convenience of driving, putting all the stuff in the car," says one driving vacationer.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says the number of air passengers is still 10 percent below the pre-September 11 level, although the number of flights has rebounded.

"At some of the busier hubs like Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, we're seeing at certain times of the day, certain days of the week, the numbers are even higher than last year," says FAA Administrator Jane Garvey.

Those who do choose to fly this year may find that the trip takes longer than expected. Longer lines and longer waits are predicted at airports as new federal screeners take over and have to learn the ropes.

"I think the word for summer is probably 'delay,'" says David Stempler of the Air Travelers Association, " and what we're telling our passengers is prepare for the worst and just hope for the best."

Still, FAA officials say they're confident they can move traffic along this summer with new routes and more frequent weather forecasts.