Air travel on U.S. airlines is forecasted to grow 3.7 percent this summer, reaching a record 246.1 million passengers, trade organization Airlines for America (A4A) said.
Carriers are adding 116,000 seats daily to accommodate the additional travelers.
A4A defines the summer season as travel between June 1 and Aug. 31. Last year, there were 237.3 million passengers during that period.
“As the economy grows along with household net worth, passengers are taking advantage of persistently low airfares for their summer travel plans,” John Heimlich, A4A vice president and chief economist, said. “This fall we will celebrate 40 years since the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, which has enabled business and leisure travelers alike to reap the benefits of the nation’s safest form of transportation, while enjoying historically low airfares, increased in-flight amenities and modern technology throughout the flight experience, from the time of booking all the way through arrival at their destination.”
During the first quarter of 2018, customer complaints fell to 0.98 complaints per 100,000 passengers, which is lower than both the same quarter in 2016 and 2017, and there were only 1.2 involuntarily denied boardings.
While air-time arrivals have increased to 79.98 percent, flight completion and properly handled bag rates both fell.