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Mad Dash to Snag Swearing-In Tickets, Rooms Begins
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Mackey, the 29-year-old man from Stone Mountain, Ga., was also thinking ahead about the inauguration when he set up his inaugural trip Web site in June. He was having a conversation with a friend about an Obama inauguration, and he began taking trip deposits through his Web site. Starting Tuesday, his deposits jumped from $6,000 to $30,000 in 48 hours. "It's been utter mayhem," he said.
It was the same for airlines.
Delta Air Lines said last week that its inbound bookings for flights between Jan. 16 and Jan. 19 to the three D.C. area airports are up nearly 200 percent. Southwest Airlines reported a 100 percent spike in bookings timed to the inauguration. Bookings are up significantly at American Airlines as well, the airline said Friday.
On Capitol Hill, switchboards buzzed nonstop last week with requests for tickets not yet available.
No one seemed to mind. In members' offices, there was an atmosphere of collective history in the making and an urge to help every constituent participate.
"It's been crazy, but nobody's complaining," said Sharon Jenkins, communications director for Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), whose office had received more than 800 ticket requests since Tuesday. "People are euphoric."
Kenneth Edmonds, chief of staff for Rep. Jackson, whose father is one of the country's most prominent civil rights leaders, said: "People are so excited about the prospect of witnessing history. . . . They want to be able to tell their children they were here."
Staff writers Pamela Constable, Aaron C. Davis and Sholnn Freeman contributed to this report.
