Air travel is starting to decrease at the tail of the summer season. CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg reviews the travel conditions that could cause delays for major airline operators.

"Three of the four major air traffic control centers are below their 85% staffing threshold," Greenberg says. "That means even in the best of weather, they have to slow things down because they literally do not have enough controllers to work the number of flights the airline scheduled."

Greenberg comments on the price trends for international travel bookings as compared to domestic travel prices.

This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] AKIKO FUJITA: With Labor Day weekend fast approaching, millions of Americans are going to the skies and the roads.

According to AAA, domestic bookings are up 4% and international bookings are up 44%.

But after a rough start to the summer travel season, we have a look at whether travelers may be in for a similar fate.

Joining us now is CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg.

Peter, we've got the FAA predicting this is going to be the third busiest holiday weekend.

How smooth are things going to look?

PETER GREENBERG: Well, you know what?

Whether or not withstanding, demand is actually starting to decrease.

People are starting to stay home a little more because they couldn't afford the airfares.

They couldn't afford the hotel rates.

So you're seeing airfares right now down about 11% from where they were about two weeks ago.

And that's a good sign leading into the fall.

Now having said that, this is the last big hurrah weekend for the year leading into Thanksgiving.

So people will be on the road.

They will be taking to the skies.

It's the usual chaos because all year long, it's not really seasonal.

Flights have been full.

Airports have been crowded and sometimes overcrowded.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: And for many consumers, the southwest meltdown that we saw in December, still top of mind.

We also had multiple delays this summer amid pilot and other labor shortages.

What does that mean for this weekend and looking beyond into the back half of the year when it comes to some of those potential disruptions?

PETER GREENBERG: Well, beyond pilot shortages and computer meltdowns, you've got a lingering problem with the FAA.

Three of the four major air traffic control centers are below their 85% staffing threshold, which means even in the best of weather, they have to slow things down because they literally do not have enough controllers to work the number of flights the airlines have scheduled.

So you can expect delays just on that alone, then you throw weather in.

So let's just hope there's not any weather.

It'll just be slow.

AKIKO FUJITA: Now, Peter, you mentioned that we're already starting to see some consumers pull back from their travel plans this time of year.

What does that suggest in terms of how things are going to look come holiday season?

That is another big driver for so many of these airlines.

PETER GREENBERG: It is.

But we have to go back to the COVID days, where so many of us came up close and personal with our own sense of personal mortality and made a decision that we were going to forego expensive material goods and new cars and clothing and jewelry.

We wanted to focus on buying experiences.

So all that money that was saved up during COVID was spent on that.

Here's the problem.

We've blown through those savings and now we're putting it on our credit cards, as you've already reported numerous times, I suspect.

Consumer credit debt on credit cards is over $1 trillion.

So part of that weakening and demand is because people are getting their credit card bills at 24% interest and trying to reassess what their priorities really are.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: And amid a lot of those higher prices is there anything the consumer can do to try and score better deals?

PETER GREENBERG: Yes, the good news is, as demand is falling, we're now starting to see drastic reductions in international affairs.

Just about a month ago, a round trip ticket from New York to London in Coach was about $2,200.

That's crazy.

Today, I'm seeing fares starting now, not just waiting for Labor Day, down to $208 each way.

And that includes taxes and fees.

That's a remarkable change.

AKIKO FUJITA: And finally, Peter, you know, we've heard so much from these airlines about the strength they're seeing in international travel versus domestic.

What are you seeing going into this weekend?

Where are travelers going?

PETER GREENBERG: Well, most of them are not going internationally.

They're coming back from their foreign vacations.

Most of them are staying home close to home because of school seasons and having to start the season after Labor Day.

But if you want to be a smart traveler, now's the time book international flights.

As I said, that $208 example I gave you is just one of them.

AKIKO FUJITA: OK.

I'll have to get some notes there on where to travel internationally.

CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg, good to talk to you today.

Appreciate the time.