US Airlines Gear Up to Carry 28 Million Passengers Daily During the Extended Christmas Season
US airlines are bracing for an even busier Christmas travel season, aiming to replicate the success of Thanksgiving with minimal flight disruptions
The three major legacy airlines in the United States are preparing for an extended and larger Christmas holiday travel season, with hopes for a repeat of the relatively low number of flight cancellations seen during the previous Thanksgiving. American Airlines, the country's largest carrier, anticipates Friday, December 22, to be the busiest day of a 19-day holiday travel period starting on Wednesday, December 20, and plans to accommodate 12.7 million passengers.
"The airline stated that the 2023 holiday period will be longer than in previous years, which reflects the evolving travel patterns of customers and the school schedules in many of the major American hub markets. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, holiday air traffic is expected to peak on the Thursday before Christmas, with the agency's air traffic controllers managing a total of 48,959 flights."
Winter holiday travel has become increasingly widespread, as demonstrated by Delta Air Lines spokesperson Morgan Durant's statement to CNN about the carrier's busiest days. He noted that there is a "seven-way tie" for these peak travel days. In total, Delta is anticipating serving approximately 9 million passengers, with 600,000 customers expected each day from December 21 to 22, and from December 26 to 30.
Airlines hire ahead of the holiday wave
Airlines for America predicts that there will be 2.8 million daily passengers traveling during the holiday rush, marking a 16% rise in holiday fliers compared to 2022.
U.S. airlines have been making significant efforts to meet the incredibly high demand during the holiday season. They have emphasized their aggressive hiring and adjustments to flight schedules to address the shortage of air traffic controllers. These efforts paid off during Thanksgiving, with very few flight cancellations, also aided by favorable weather conditions.
In the event that your flight is canceled or delayed, here's what you can do. According to FlightAware data, US airlines canceled just 329 flights during Thanksgiving week, representing less than 1% of scheduled flights. This was attributed to the "x-factor" of weather, as stated by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
United Airlines intends to transport approximately 9 million passengers, marking a 12% increase from the previous year. The airline attributes this growth to the success of Thanksgiving travel and reassures the public that it is fully prepared for the upcoming holiday season.
