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Air travel is matching levels seen before the pandemic ahead of the busiest days of the Easter weekend—the start of spring break for some customers. It could offer a boost to airlines if they can handle the strain.
Passenger volumes so far this week have been tracking around or slightly above the equivalent weekdays in 2019, according to Transportation Security Administration data. Sunday was the third busiest day of the year so far: Close to 2.6 million people passed through U.S. airport checkpoints.
The daily number of people going through checkpoints has now surpassed two million for 30 consecutive days, the first time that has happened since 2019.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday is set to be the busiest travel day of the holiday period, with 51,252 flights expected across the U.S. Friday won’t be far behind, with the FAA forecasting 51,125 flights.
The only thing preventing that from being a guaranteed positive for airlines is the possibility of delays and cancellations.
The winter holiday period was blighted by widespread flight disruption following severe weather. More than 30,000 flights were canceled between Dec. 21 and Jan. 2, according to data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
As of 8 a.m. Eastern Thursday, disruption appeared to be minimal. No major U.S. airline had canceled more than 1% of its scheduled flights.
U.S. airline stocks had an impressive start to the year but have slipped back over the past month. Monday’s surge in oil prices, the result of plans by OPEC and other exporters to cut production, was the latest factor sending the shares lower. The NYSE Arca Global Airline Index rose more than 16% in the first three months of 2023 but has fallen 10% since then.
However, demand is staying strong and airfares remain elevated, suggesting that the sector can regain some of that lost ground. The spring and summer are historically strong for airlines.
United Airlines (ticker: UAL) said Thursday that international bookings jumped 15% in March, compared with the same month last year, pointing toward strong summer demand. As a result United is expanding its overseas schedule by 25% for this summer, flying to 114 international cities.
“With unprecedented demand for travel overseas, we’ll have more service to popular cities while also adding new and unique destinations for customers to explore,” said Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of global network planning and alliances.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com
Air Travel Is Back at Prepandemic Level Ahead of Easter Holiday Weekend
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