05/08/2023

Air Travel Demand May Fuel Another Record Summer

Here’s what will be different

American consumers may be pulling back in some ways — buying fewer clothes, holding on to their cars longer and waiting to upgrade cellphones — but they continue to spend on travel, willing to pay fees for early boarding, premium seating and lounge access at rates that far exceed pre-pandemic times.

This appetite for travel has been good for the industry’s balance sheets. Domestic air carriers recorded $1.6 billion in net profit last year, up from a loss of $2.8 billion in 2021, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. But that demand also has highlighted the fragility of a system struggling to fill key jobs as it grapples with aging technology.

Ahead of the 2023 summer travel season, airlines and the agencies that oversee them are putting measures in place to avoid widespread disruptions that have marred previous pandemic-era summers and fueled a record number of consumer complaints. Weather remains the wild card, but industry officials hope the early preparation will pay off this summer.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.