The AAA predicted some 3.4 million Americans would fly over the holiday weekend—exceeding both pre-pandemic levels and those seen the same time last year.
The unofficial start of summer is expected to see a massive rise in travel as Americans make the most of the Memorial Day weekend, with air travel set to exceed pre-pandemic levels.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimated that 3.4 million people are expected to fly between Thursday to Monday, based on figures prepared in mid-April—an increase of 11 percent compared to 2022. It also estimated there would be 170,000 more passengers than in 2019.
With the prospect of packed airports, there are concerns of a repeat of the mass delays and cancellations the industry struggled to cope with during a surge in air passengers in 2022.
« This is expected to be the third-busiest Memorial Day weekend since 2000, when AAA started tracking holiday travel, » Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement on May 15. « This summer travel season could be one for the record books, especially at airports. »
« We’ve invested in our operational resilience for this summer, » she said. « We’re nimbler, more adaptable and are structurally better prepared. »
Across all forms of travel, the AAA expects 42.3 million Americans—around 13 percent of the nation’s total population—to travel 50 miles or more, a rise of 7 percent on last year.
