Summer 2019 promises to be a busy season for U.S. airlines. Airlines for America predicts that more than 257 million passengers will fly on U.S. carriers between June 1 and August 31.
That figure represents a 3.4 percent increase over last summer’s record total of 248.8 million passengers during the same period and marks the 10th consecutive year of summer traffic growth.
To handle the higher demand, airlines are adding about 111,000 seats per day, which aligns with an expected rise of roughly 93,000 additional passengers each day.
“Air travel is the nation’s safest form of transportation, and it is now more affordable than ever before. U.S. carriers are making airline flights more and more accessible, so it’s no surprise that more and more Americans are flying,” said John Heimlich, vice president and chief economist at A4A.
Lower fares are helping drive the uptick in travel. Adjusted for inflation, this year marks the fourth consecutive year of declining airfares; ticket prices have fallen 15.9 percent since 2014.
With fares down and capacity rising, the steady growth in passenger numbers indicates that air travel in the United States continues to expand.