They anticipate a summer with air traffic at 2019 levels

Forney resident Megan Broussard canceled a cruise she had scheduled with her husband for last summer in Alaska and waited almost all of 2020 dreaming of being able to travel again.

In December, when there were signs that the coronavirus pandemic was in retreat, he couldn’t wait any longer.

But since restrictions were in place in many parts of the world, Broussard concluded that it would be easier to call a travel agent, who recommended an all-inclusive resort near Cancun.

“We can plan our trip ourselves, but as I was telling my husband, I don’t want to have to deal with all that, try to decide where to stay and still see what the rules are going to be,” said Broussard from his hotel room in Mexico. after a day swimming with dolphins.

“And yet I wrote to Kristie (her travel agent) in the middle of the night to ask her about covid protocols.”

Broussard is one of millions of Americans willing to put aside the caution that marked an entire year by avoiding travel and boarding airplanes.

Airlines and industry analysts expect demand to rise to such a degree that it would make airports look like before the pandemic brought the dynamic travel business to a standstill.

Although statistics from security checkpoints indicate an increase in flights since March, airport officials believe that there will be a strong rebound in traffic starting Thursday, when Memorial Day weekend begins, and that it will extend through the summer until start the new school year.

After a year of empty airports, meager lines at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, and unoccupied seats on airplanes, travelers may have to get used to the crowds again.

American Airlines announced that this summer it will fly with up to 90% occupancy in the number of seats on domestic flights compared to 2019, which was a record year for airlines.

The Fort Worth airline will also fly up to 80% seat occupancy on international flights compared to 2019, mainly to Mexico and the Caribbean, since most of Europe and Asia remain difficult to access for American tourists.

At DFW Airport, American will actually operate 1.1% more flights between May and September than in 2019 due to the fact that more of the airline’s traffic passes through North Texas than before, according to data from the tracking firm. Diio by Cirium flight programs.

In addition, American will have more nonstop flights this summer from DFW than in 2019 because it is modifying its network to better connect the destinations with the highest demand in the country such as Pensacola, Florida; Bozeman, Montana and Fairbanks, Alaska.

American’s strategy to deal with the pandemic has been to channel more traffic through its main flight centers, which has been a bonanza for DFW, located a few miles from the company’s headquarters.

On Friday, American will have 818 flights to 219 unique destinations, said Jim Moses, the airline’s vice president for DFW operations.

North Texas could be the center of aviation this summer.

American Airlines has scheduled more flights and seats than any of its competitors this summer, more than 20% more than its closest competitor, Delta Airlines of Atlanta, according to Cirium.

“The airlines are no longer trying to make money; they are trying to rebuild their networks around a flight program that effectively makes them money, “said Jeff Pelletier, managing director of Airline Data Inc., of Dallas.

“DFW makes a lot of sense from a revenue standpoint, and it’s even outperforming Atlanta in many ways.”

Travelers from the south and southwest have been more willing to travel during the pandemic.

DFW was the second busiest airport in the country in 2020, surpassing Los Angeles International Airport and Chicago O’Hare, two regions that have been tighter on coronavirus restrictions.

The Northeast region of the United States is beginning to relax its restrictions on restaurants and visitors, and Texas will lift all orders to wear a mask in the coming weeks.

American Airlines isn’t the only airline offering more flights from DFW. Spirit Airlines will also offer more flights to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Another low-cost carrier, Frontier Airlines, will add flights from DFW to Chicago O’Hare.

“Airlines … are getting aggressive,” said John Ackerman, DFW executive vice president for global strategy and development.

“They’ve been exploring a lot during the pandemic … the new airline economy.”

Leisure travelers continue to dominate the travel market. Southwest reported that March business travel volume was 85% lower than 2019 and April 80% lower.

This fall caused Southwest, American and other airlines to seek new routes to serve customers and families who want to travel for pleasure.

Destinations such as North Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico have been placed as top tourist destinations, in part due to the lax restrictions in those regions due to the pandemic.

But even the most sought-after destinations are very attentive to any regrowth that could endanger tourism.

Authorities in the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico recently warned that they could impose restrictions if a covid-19 outbreak does not abate, according to press reports from the region.

Catchings said American’s expanded flight program to Mexico has been very attractive to its customers.

American will be operating seven to eight flights a day from DFW to Cancun this summer, including dozens of flights on larger jets like the Boeing 787 and 777, which seat between 240 and 273 passengers.

The airline is assigning those large planes to routes to Mexico instead of Europe and Asia.

Southwest is also expanding its flights to Cancun, but through Houston, which is the airline’s main hub for flights to Central America and the Caribbean.

For clients like Broussard, whose flight to Cancun was the first since the pandemic began, the airport experience was not the same.

Passengers now notice the covid-19 testing stations that are required before traveling to certain destinations.

A federal order makes the use of a mask mandatory at airports and airplanes, despite the directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that vaccinated people no longer have to wear a mask.

“For a lot of people this is going to be the first time they are at an airport in more than a year,” said Williams, who has been reinforcing his staff at Love Field in anticipation of the arrival of more travelers.

“Maybe they should arrive earlier to have time, not only because there will be more people but because of everything that has changed.”

–