WASHINGTON -- For all the financial distress of legacy airlines, the broader U.S. airline industry is set to post a record for the most passengers carried in a year.
AeroEcon, an airline consultancy, says airlines this year will have flown 685 million passengers, or 3 percent more than 2000 and 6 percent more than 2003, USA Today reported Monday.
Propelling the soaring passenger loads are low fares, a diminished terrorism threat, higher seat utilization, more international travel and a favorable forecast for the holiday season.
Meanwhile, a move by legacy carriers to mimic scheduling by discount airlines are lengthening layovers at hub airports.
American, United, Delta and US Airways are spreading flight times more evenly over the day to squeeze productivity from planes and ground crews.
Traditional hub-and-spoke airlines traditionally have clustered flights in a series of high-activity periods over the day to give fliers the ability to make quick connections, but that has required extra planes, gates, people and tractors to move bags at peak times.
As legacy carriers abandon clustering, delays at hubs lengthen: The typical American Airlines passenger connecting through Dallas/Fort Worth now has to wait 11 minutes more than four years ago, Back Aviation Solutions says.
