Flight Cancellations Affect Rental Car Business
As flight cancellations to and from Omaha continue, RACs shuffle cars and schedules to keep travelers moving.
Although American Airlines and Midwest Airlines did their best to find alternative flights for passengers whose flights were cancelled due to safety inspections, some travelers going to or from Omaha chose to rent cars, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The influx of last-minute reservations has kept RACs on their toes.
The National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car office at Eppley Airfield reported that travelers were willing to undertake the expense of a one-way rental plus gasoline to reach their destinations. A day of flight cancellations could bring the National and Alamo office a dozen new one-way car reservations, said Toreng Moss, a lead agent for the office at Eppley Airfield.
While one-way rentals from other destinations should arrive in Omaha in the coming days, Moss is concerned about the availability of cars. “They’re depleting our fleet,” she said, adding, “We’re going to have to get those cars back,” according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Meanwhile, at Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s Eppley location, the phone rang often with passengers changing their plans and reservations. One group of passengers flew to Des Moines and rented a car one-way to Omaha, while other travelers updated their Omaha arrival times because they caught other flights to the city, the Omaha World-Herald said.
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