The trade organization
Airlines for America (A4A) is projecting that 27.3 million passengers will
travel globally on U.S. airlines during what it defines as the 12-day
Thanksgiving travel period, an increase of 2.5% over 2016.
Daily passenger volume during
the Nov. 18 to Nov. 29 period will peak at 2.81 million on Sunday, Nov. 27, A4A
estimated. Thanksgiving itself will be the lightest travel day during that
period, with an estimated 1.51 million global fliers on U.S. airlines.
A4A said that lower ticket
prices and a 2.9% increase in the number of available seats would lead to the
increase in fliers. The average domestic airfare in the second quarter, which
is the most recent quarter for which the Bureau of Transportation Statistics
has released data, was $353, down 9.6% from 2015.