As travel continues to ramp up, airlines are ready for a busy holiday period. The summer has seen flight delays and cancelations. Staffing and flight schedules have been addressed by the industry.
According to Airlines for America, domestic airlines are hoping for a smooth Thanksgiving travel week, as they have adjusted schedules and hiring needs to meet current flight demand.
More than two million people take to the skies each day, and U.S. airlines are going above and beyond to help you have a safe holiday travel season. The industry group remains hopeful, coming off a less-than-ideal summer when U.S. carriers canceled more than 59,000 flights.
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In response to what A4A acknowledged as a "challenging summer," airlines have reduced flight schedules and increased hiring efforts above pre-pandemic employment levels.
We are above our pre-pandemic levels of employment because airlines have reduced their schedules to make sure they have the resources and capacity for the whole travel schedule.
Airlines have increased their staff reserves in response to a general reluctance to work more overtime. Travelers were warned that some issues could be difficult to avoid. The threat of poor weather and air traffic control constraints could be included.
Airlines are ready now. The fact that we have hired many more people is different. We are ahead in every staffing category.
Since global travel restrictions have been largely lifted, airlines don't expect to see passenger volumes mirror the levels of last year until at least the year 2023; they noted a decline in passenger demand in places historically dependent on business and trans Pacific travel.
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There is a lack of long-haul international travel and corporate travel. The demand for travel is high, but not always.
According to the data cited by A4A, passenger volumes have fallen the most on the weekends. The weekend is not a heavy travel day for business travelers, but is a heavy travel day for leisure travelers.
There is some time left for the demand to play out.
As travelers flock to airports across the country this week and into next, airports expect to see an increase in passenger volume.
The Los Angeles International Airport is expected to have 200,000 passengers per day on Nov. 17 and Nov. 18. In comparison to the same time last year, there are 20,000 more passengers per day, but only 80% to 90% of them.
The spread of travel throughout the week will help ensure smooth operations.
United Airlines expects more than 5 million passengers in the same time period, with 98% of flights compared to the current schedule.
"We are on track to hire 15,000 employees this year, including pilots, flight attendants, ramp workers and customer service agents," United said in an email. More than 460,000 people are expected to fly with us on the busiest travel day of the year.
The additional reporting was done by Meghna Maharishi.
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