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15.12.2023 - 03:43 / travelandleisure.com / Bob Jordan
Airlines in the United States are expecting very busy, and even record-breaking, holiday traffic this year as the Christmas and New Year’s holidays approach.
United Airlines is predicting its “busiest-ever end of year holiday travel season” with about 9 million passengers — a 12 percent increase compared to last year — expected to fly from Dec. 21 through Jan. 8, the airline shared with Travel + Leisure.
In fact, United said it expects to see more travelers during the Christmas holiday than it did for Thanksgiving, which also saw record-breaking traffic.
Similarly, Delta Air Lines told T+L it expects nearly 9 million travelers to fly with the carrier from Dec. 21 to Jan 7. That will be especially concentrated on the “peak travel days” of Dec. 21, Dec. 22, and from Dec. 26 to Dec. 30.
“With a successful November and Thanksgiving operation behind us, Delta people are prepared to deliver a world-class experience for our customers over the holidays," Chief Operating Officer Mike Spanos said in a statement. “Together, our global team and partners will safely and reliably connect millions of people as they celebrate the season."
American Airlines also expects a busy holiday period with more than 12 million customers forecast to fly with the airline from Dec. 20 to Jan. 8.
Beyond an increase in passengers, the carriers boasted their ability to deliver smooth operations — a departure from last year’s Southwest Airlines Christmas meltdown in which thousands of flights were canceled during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
United said it saw its second-best on-time performance for the Thanksgiving period this year with 75.8 percent of flights departing on time. Delta said it only canceled 12 flights during the same time period. And American Airlines bragged about the “fewest Thanksgiving cancellations in American’s history” and the “best systemwide on-time departure and arrival performance since 2017.”
For its part, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan told Bloomberg the carrier was ready for the busy holidays this year, admitting last year’s debacle “was an ugly week… But that week does not define Southwest Airlines.”
“We are ready for the winter, absolutely ready,” Jordan said.
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Southwest Airlines experienced an epic meltdown last holiday season due to its outdated technology. Though it avoided any problems this year, there is still one issue it can’t avoid.
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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) anticipates that airport security checkpoints will be busier this winter holiday travel period compared to last year.Fortunately, the agency says it's prepared to meet the surging travel demand.The official end-of-the-year holiday travel period runs from Thursday, December 21 through Tuesday, January 2. TSA is projecting that the busiest days will be Thursday, December 21; Friday, December 29, and Monday, January 1.TSA said it expects to screen more than 2.5 million passengers each of those days, signaling a 6 percent increase from 2022. The busiest day last year was December 29, when officers screened nearly 2.4 million passengers nationwide.The projections come after the TSA screened nearly 30 million passengers during November's 12-day Thanksgiving holiday period. The agency broke the record for most passengers in a single day on Sunday, November 26, screening more than 2.9 million passengers at security checkpoints across the country."We are prepared to handle the busy passenger volumes this winter holiday season," TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement."TSA’s continued success during this record year for travel is a direct result of teamwork, planning and professional execution across the agency, from our frontline employees to those behind the scenes; partnerships with airports and air carriers; and innovative checkpoint technologies that improve security effectiveness, efficiency and the passenger experience," he concluded.Industry trade group Airlines for America (A4A) projects that 39 million people will board flights in the U.S. between Wednesday, December 20 and Tuesday, January 2, for an average of 2.8 million passengers per day.
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Southwest Airlines canceled 16,900 flights and stranded more than 2 million fliers between December 2022 and early January 2023, as operations took a nosedive amid severe winter storms that disrupted holiday air travel across much of the United States last year. But while other major U.S. carriers recovered from the weather-fueled delays and cancellations, Southwest struggled to normalize operations and continued to cancel flights in the days following Christmas 2022. Now, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is making it very clear that that level of failed service comes with serious consequences.
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With holiday travel coming up, travelers may be thinking back to last year, when a spate of severe winter storms grounded flights across the country just around Christmas, and an operational meltdown at Southwest Airlines dragged on for nearly a week after.