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Air Transport Association Expects 4 Percent Decline in Air Travel Over 12-Day Thanksgiving Holiday Period
November 9, 2009The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade association for the leading U.S. airlines, today said that it expects a 4 percent year-over-year decrease in the number of passengers(1) traveling on U.S. airlines during the 2009 Thanksgiving holiday season(2), despite deep discounting over the past several months. "It is increasingly apparent that the economic head winds facing the airlines and their customers are anything but behind us. The recent announcement that U.S. unemployment surpassed 10 percent highlights one of the key factors impacting consumer buying decisions," said ATA President and CEO James C. May. As typical with the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, flights are likely to be quite full, driven this year by the decrease in available seats and deep discounting, rather than by robust demand. Carriers have cut back their schedules in response to economic pressures, with 2009 capacity reductions the deepest since 1942. In addition, recently released government data show that average domestic airfares in the second quarter of 2009 fell to their lowest level since 1998, dropping 13 percent from the second quarter of 2008 - the largest year-to-year decline on record. Full release.