US holiday air passenger travel tops 2019 pre-Covid-19 levels
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Passengers check in for their flights at the start of the Memorial Day weekend in the United States, at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - US holiday air passenger travel topped 2019 pre-Covid-19 levels over the Memorial Day weekend, which typically marks the start of the busy US summer air travel season, figures from the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) showed on Tuesday.
Nearly 9.8 million passengers were screened or passed through security checks over the four-day weekend, about 300,000 more than over the same holiday period in 2019, the agency said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), airlines and flight tracking websites reported smooth travel over the Memorial Day – observed on the last Monday of May – period and significant improvements over 2022 performance.
The FAA said just 0.6 per cent of holiday travel period flights through Monday were cancelled versus 2.3 per cent in 2022 and 1.4 per cent in 2019.
“Low levels of delays and cancellations over the holiday weekend are evidence that sector-wide collaboration to improve airline reliability is on the right track,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter.
“Much more work to come, and we will continue our actions to ensure passengers are supported.”
TSA said it screened 2.74 million passengers on Friday alone, the highest number in a single day since November 2019. Friday’s traffic topped the recent high that had been set on Thursday and the entire weekend topped pre-Covid-19 traffic levels.
The FAA said Thursday was the nation’s highest post-Covid-19 daily traffic, with 54,684 flights.
American Airlines said on Sunday it cancelled only 13 regional flights, or 0.2 per cent of total scheduled departures, after four consecutive days of the airline not cancelling any flights.
Passengers wait in a security line after checking in at the start of the Memorial Day weekend, at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
PHOTO: AFP
Airlines are often operating larger planes as they have trimmed flights to smooth operations, especially in congested New York airspace.
Industry group Airlines for America estimates that a record 256.8 million passengers will fly in the June-August quarter, up 1 per cent over the 254.6 million passengers in the same period in 2019. REUTERS
