Air travel expected to reach spring record high

© Shutterstock

Citing persistently low fares, unsurpassed levels of investment in products, increasing competition and unprecedented passenger access, Airlines for America (A4A) anticipates a record high volume of air passengers this spring.

The trade organization for major U.S. airlines expects an all-time high of 150.7 million passengers to fly globally on the nation’s airlines between March 1 and April 30, a 4 percent increase from 145 million passengers in the spring of 2017.

“An expanding economy, employment gains and surging household net worth are also contributing to the growth in demand for air travel,” John Heimlich, A4A vice president and chief economist, said. “There has never been a better time to fly, as evidenced by the record number of 151 million flyers expected to travel this spring.”

Officials said with demand continually increasing, the nation’s airlines are investing heavily in their products and their employees – noting from 2010 to 2017 they used 75 percent of operating cash flow to enhance their products, including new planes, in-flight WiFi and entertainment systems, renovated airport lounges and upgraded security lanes at airport checkpoints.

“Through high-quality, lucrative careers and significant economic stimulation around the country, passenger and cargo airlines are dedicated to investment in their people, products and facilities,” Heimlich said. “Airlines serve as valued partners to airports and will continue to do so, without the need for higher taxes on passengers or shippers.”

Competition from low-cost carriers has kept fares low, with domestic airfares more than 40 percent less in 2017 than in 1980, according to A4A. In anticipation of the expected increase in air travel, airlines are adding 114,000 seats per day across their networks, while also increasing staffing levels and adding new aircraft at the rate of roughly one plane per day.