Thanksgiving air travel lagged 2019 despite rebound in flying

Air travel in the US has broadly recovered from the depths of the pandemic, but passenger counts from the busy Thanksgiving period show it still has a way to go before returning to 2019’s record levels.

Almost 24.6 million people went through Transportation Security Administration screening from Nov. 18 through Nov. 28, according to agency data, down 5.7% from the same period three years ago. While the Sunday after Thanksgiving was the busiest day since Covid-19 began ravaging the industry, it was 11.2% below that day in 2019, which was the biggest day ever for air travel in the US.

Still, passenger totals from the 11-day stretch this year were up by about 1.5 million from a year ago. 

With business travel yet to rebound and employees taking advantage of looser policies on working remotely, people have become more flexible in what days they fly. Slightly more passengers flew last Friday and on the Monday before the holiday than the equivalent days in 2019, according to TSA.

Major carriers United Airlines Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. said they had relatively smooth operations during the holidays, with only a handful of cancellations. That was due in part to a reduction in flight schedules after disruptions last year and earlier in 2022. 

The seven largest US carriers reported 451 canceled flights, or 0.3%, from Nov. 18 through Monday, and 30,252 delays, or 19.4%, according to tracker FlightAware.