Dec 14. With Christmas only a couple of weeks away, airlines are now gearing up for what they anticipate will be the busiest holiday travel period since the pandemic.
While the 2022 Thanksgiving travel period became the busiest following the pandemic, airlines are expecting the Christmas and New Year’s holiday travel season will see even more people taking to the skies. United Airlines, for example, forecasts 8.3 million people will fly with the airline, an increase of 1.9 million more travelers compared to 2021. The Chicago-based carrier also anticipates that Jan. 2 will be its busiest travel day, with more than 480,000 passengers.
Airlines for America, the trade group that represents most big U.S. carriers — including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United — emphasized that airlines have made significant improvements to their operations since suffering operational reliability issues earlier this year after adjusting their schedules and hiring more staff. Since the peak of the pandemic, Sharon Pinkerton, the senior vice president of policy at A4A, said airlines have collectively hired 106,000 more people, and are now adding 4,600 employees a month.
Source: The Points Guy
