For holiday travelers who love to sweeten their journey with a venti extra-hot mocha triple-shot soy latte but cannot typically abide the line at an airport Starbucks, this particular holiday season is offering a welcome surprise: caffeine without the O’Hare holding pattern.
Earlier this week, on what traditionally is one of the year’s busiest travel days, it was possible to stroll up to the counter of any Starbucks in Terminal 3 at O’Hare, order a drink, pay and depart in less than three minutes.
This is less a testament to the supersonic speed of the O’Hare coffee makers than to the continued decline in Thanksgiving air travel. The American Automobile Association estimates a 6.6 percent drop from 2008 levels, which were off 40 percent from 2007.
Jessica Beltran has worked at one of the O’Hare Starbucks for two years. “It’s definitely slower,” Ms. Beltran said of the current traffic. “Usually, you’ll see people trying to beat the rush.”
That is assuming, of course, there is a rush to beat.