U.S. Airlines Expect Slight Rise in Thanksgiving Air Travel
November 02 2016 - 12:10PM
Dow Jones News
About 27.3 million passengers will travel globally on U.S.
airlines over the Thanksgiving travel period, up 2.5% from last
year's 26.6 million fliers, according to a forecast by trade group
Airlines for America.
The holiday period this year runs for 12 days, from Nov. 18
through Nov. 29, with the busiest travel days expected to be Nov.
27, Nov. 28 and Nov. 23, the group said. That averages out to an
additional 55,000 travelers a day over last year's period, and
carriers have prepared by adding 74,000 more seats each day through
larger planes and additional flights.
The trade group said the forecast covers travel on all U.S.
airlines. A financial analysis of the first three quarters of 2016
is based on nine carriers, including Airlines for America members
American Airlines Group Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc.,
Southwest Airlines Co., JetBlue Airways Corp., Alaska Air Group
Inc., and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. Nonmembers Delta Air Lines Inc.,
Spirit Airlines Inc. and Allegiant Travel Co. also are
included.
During the first nine months of this year, those nine carriers
posted a combined pretax profit of $18.3 billion, resulting in a
margin of 15.5%, down slightly from the 15.6% pretax margin in the
year-earlier period, Airlines for America said.
Their largest operating expense, labor, increased 8.5% during
the first nine months, resulting in $3.6 billion in spending a
month on wages and benefits. August was the 34th consecutive month
of year-over-year employment gains, bringing the 2016 workforce to
408,000, an increase of 30,500 since 2010.
Revenues for the nine months slipped 1.8%, due in large part to
lower airfares, which declined 5.6% from the prior-year period.
Expenses declined 0.8% as a 22% decrease in fuel prices helped
offset increases in other costs, the trade group said.
Write to Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications: An air-travel forecast for the
Thanksgiving holiday period by the Airlines for America trade group
is based on the entire U.S. airline industry, while a financial
analysis covers just nine carriers. An earlier version of this
article incorrectly stated the air-travel forecast included only
nine carriers. (Nov. 2, 2016)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 02, 2016 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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