More than 47 million passengers expected to fly on U.S. airlines over holiday period
An estimated 47.5 million passengers are forecast to fly on U.S. airlines over the holiday period, according to industry group Airlines for America.
The airline association says the busy travel period starts Thursday Dec. 19 and runs through Sunday Jan. 5. The number of passengers expected to travel daily is up 3 percent from a year ago, and averages 2.6 million passengers a day.
The busiest days are expected to be Friday Dec. 20, Saturday Dec. 21, Friday Dec. 27 and Thursday Dec. 26.
The least busy days are expected to be Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and Christmas Day.
The busiest day on record nationally for the Transportation Security Administration was Dec. 1 this year, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when TSA screened more than 2.8 million travelers.
About the Author
As business team lead, Kelly Yamanouchi edits and writes business stories. She graduated from Harvard and has a master's degree from Northwestern.
