Airlines in the United States are expecting a busy and even record-breaking holiday travel season this year as the Christmas and New Year’s holidays approach.
United Airlines is predicting its “busiest holiday travel season ever,” with about 9 million passengers – a 12 percent increase over last year – expected to fly from Dec. 21 to Jan. 8.
In fact, United said it expects to see more travellers over the Christmas holiday than it did over Thanksgiving, which also saw record-breaking traffic.
Similarly, Expects nearly 9 million travellers to fly with the airline from Dec. 21 to Jan. 7, with a particular focus on the “peak travel days” of Dec. 21, Dec. 22 and Dec. 26 to 30.
“With a successful November and Thanksgiving behind us, Delta employees are ready to deliver a world-class experience for our customers over the holidays,” said Mike Spanos, Delta’s chief operating officer, in a statement. “Together, our global team and partners will safely and reliably connect millions of people as they celebrate the season.”
American Airlines is also anticipating a busy holiday season, with more than 12 million customers expected to fly with the airline from 20 December to 8 January.
As well as an increase in passengers, the airlines boasted of their ability to deliver smooth operations – a far cry from last year’s Southwest Airlines Christmas meltdown, which saw thousands of flights cancelled during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
United said it had its second-best on-time performance for the Thanksgiving period this year, with 75.8 per cent of flights departing on time. Delta said it cancelled only 12 flights over the same period. And American Airlines boasted the “fewest Thanksgiving cancellations in American’s history” and the “best systemwide on-time departure and arrival performance since 2017.”
For his part, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan told Bloomberg that the airline was ready for this year’s busy holidays, admitting that last year’s debacle was “an ugly week… But that week doesn’t define Southwest Airlines.”
“We’re ready for the winter, absolutely ready,” Jordan said.