A4A forecasts 16.5 million passengers for Labor Day holiday
Trade group Airlines for America expects another record number of flyers for the Labor Day holiday period.
It says 16.5 million passengers will travel on U.S. carriers over the Labor Day holiday, which extends through Tuesday, September 4.
That would represent 3.5% growth compared to 2017.
This Friday, August 31 is expected to be the busiest day with up to 2.76 million passengers, followed by Thursday, August 30 and Monday, September 3, with 2.6 and 2.58 million passengers respectively.
"2018 has been an exceptionally busy year for air travel, with 20 out of the 25 busiest days ever recorded by the Transportation Security Administration occurring so far this year," said A4A Vice President and Chief Economist John Heimlich.
To meet the demand airlines have laid on 2.76 million seats per day across their networks for the expected increase of 92,000 passengers each day.
"Record numbers of travelers are taking to the skies in large part due to widespread affordability," Heimlich added.
A4A says profit margins continue to decline in the face of high fuel costs.
Fuel expenses are up 31.1% and airport costs rose 7.1%.
Airlines’ average pre-tax profit margins are down to just 7.2% in 1H 2018, the trade group said.
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