28% Yearly Increase: USDOT Releases January Passenger Traffic Numbers
Over 67 million domestic and international passengers travelled on US-based airlines during January 2023.
Recent data compiled by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has revealed the continued growth of the aviation industry post-pandemic, as figures from January 2023 close in on January 2020’s record 70.8 million passenger movements.
Continued industry growth
In the agency’s most recent update, posted earlier this week, the latest statistics confirmed the rapid post-pandemic recovery of air travel in the US despite weather-related delays and setbacks through December.
Without adjusting for seasonality, over 58 million domestic and 9 million international passengers were carried by US airlines, up roughly 4% from December 2022, for a total of 67.1 million passenger movements. January’s figures sit just 3.7% below the industry’s all-time high for January, recorded in 2020, shortly before measures to control the spread of COVID-19 silenced the skies over the United States.
The positive trend has remained relatively consistent through 2022, with some seasonal variation. By the year-end, the DOT confirmed that domestic air travel had recovered 92% of pre-pandemic levels, for a total of 750,259,936 passengers for 2022. International air travel lagged at 76% of 2019’s figures, with 186,390,901 passengers carried, largely triggered by travel restrictions to many popular tourist destinations.
Sustaining demand
Following the ending of the COVID-19 national emergency, signed into law by President Joe Biden on April 10th, travel restrictions to the US are expected to relax in May, with unvaccinated travelers permitted to enter the country for the first time.
Demand for air travel remains consistently high, with US legacy carrier Delta Air Lines reporting record flight bookings through the remainder of 2023. The average fare per mile has reportedly surged by around 17% to meet the strong travel demand, as the airline’s summer schedule sits about 10% lower than 2019’s levels, according to Cirium data.
Competitor United Airlines is also recording a sharp increase in international bookings, surging 15% compared to the first quarter of 2022. Although the carrier’s schedule is similarly recorded as sitting around 13% lower than 2019 in March 2023, a variety of new routes and international destinations to be launched during Spring will likely bolster operations for the legacy carrier during the season.
Potential disruption
In response to passenger demand, airlines and airports have begun hiring sprees to ensure operations remain smooth through busy periods to prevent a repeat of disruption seen through the summer of 2022. However, operations are expected to be scaled back at airports across New York and Washington DC between May 15 and September 15 due to local shortages of Air Traffic Control (ATC) staff.
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Working alongside ATC, airlines including JetBlue, American Airlines, and United Airlines have all pulled slots at New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), Newark (EWR), and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to prevent disruption during the busy summer season as the industry strengthens its staffing levels. Speaking to FlightGlobal earlier this week, Peter Carter, Delta’s Executive Vice President of External Affairs, explained the situation,
“We are engaged in ongoing discussions with the FAA on this topic of ensuring they have the appropriate staffing. The one thing we’ve seen from them is that they are acknowledging that they have an issue that they need to solve. That’s an important acknowledgement that will help us work together to solve it.”
What are your thoughts on the US aviation industry’s recovery? Will you be flying this year? Let us know in the comments.
Sources: Associated Press, Business Traveller, FlightGlobal
