Stuffed Planes for the Holidays

Nov. 8, 2013
This should be the nation's busiest Thanksgiving travel season since the pre-recession peak of 2006

Nov. 08--This should be the nation's busiest Thanksgiving travel season since the pre-recession peak of 2006, an airline industry group said Thursday.

In its annual forecast, Airlines for America estimates 25 million passengers will fly during the 12-day Thanksgiving travel period. That is more than 31,000 more people a day from the same time last year.

The number of travelers flying between Nov. 22 and Dec. 3 will increase by 1.5 percent from 2012. Planes are expected to be more than 85 percent full on the busiest travel days, the Sunday after Thanksgiving Day and the Wednesday before.

"The good news for customers is that air travel costs less in real dollars today than in 2000," said John Heimlich, the group's vice president and chief economist. Plus, he added, "airlines are delivering strong on-time and baggage performance."

Heimlich attributed the increase in travel to the improving economy and increased consumer confidence.

To meet the demand, carriers are increasing the number of available seats for Thanksgiving travel by roughly 2 percent. Over the last two years, airlines have been steadily adding capacity.

Airlines for America also reported improving year-over-year financial performance for the 10 largest U.S. airlines.

During the first nine months of 2013, those carriers reported net earnings of $4.5 billion, with a net profit margin of 4 percent, up from 0.3 percent last year. Fuel remained airlines' largest expense, accounting for 35 percent of overall operating expenses.

The modest growth in profits helped the airlines invest in their product to improve the customer experience, including new places, lie-flat seats, WiFi, and better websites and mobile applications, the group said.

"They are achieving the highest rate of investments in the customer experience since 2001," he said. "When airlines are profitable, customers, employees and the economy win because airlines are better able to invest in the business and improve the product and travel experience."

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