Festive crowds on US airlines to top 47 million

Americans heading home on US airlines on Friday, December 20 will find themselves jostling with three million of their fellow travelers in a festive season that will be even busier than last year. Friday is expected to be the busiest day of an 18-day holiday season in which 47.5 million passengers are expected to fly, up 3 percent compared to 2018. This equates to an expected average of 2.6 million passengers per day, with traffic volumes ranging from 2.2 million to 3 million. READ: JetBlue beefs up Boston. Industry group Airlines for America defines the Christmas-New Year holiday season December 19 to January 5 and has identified the heaviest and lightest travel dates. Joining the busiest day on December 20, each with 2.9 million passengers, are Saturday, December 21, Friday, December 27 and Thursday, December 26. A sad but entirely predictable truth is that the quietest days to travel on US airlines over the holidays will be Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and Christmas Day. To handle an extra 72,000 additional daily passengers, US airlines are adding 88,000 seats and an additional 884 flights per day. “Throughout this year we’ve seen steady gains in air travel demand, and this winter will be no exception,” said Airlines for America chief economist John Heimlich. “Buoyed by a healthy economy and plentiful, affordable air service, travelers once again are expected to take to the skies in record numbers.” Airlines are also helping those vital packages where they need to go by delivering 58,000 tons of cargo per day. The busy holiday period comes on the heels of a record Thanksgiving travel period and A4A says airlines are continuing to work collaboratively with the Transport Security Administration to ensure safety and security as well as minimize queues. The TSA screened more than 2.8 million travelers on Sunday, December 1 to record the busiest day in the agency’s history. Despite the high volume, the TSA reported 99.8 percent of passengers nationwide waited less than 30 minutes in a checkpoint line. Nonetheless, the agency is advising people to arrive at the airport early and to pack wisely.