US: Airlines see higher Labor Day travel demand than in 2015

The major US airlines expect 15.6m passengers to fly over the seven-day Labor Day travel period, up 4% from the analogous period a year ago, according to Airlines for America, the leading industry trade group. During this year’s travel period, which runs from Aug. 31 through Sept. 6, about 2.23m passengers a day on average will take to the skies, up about 82,000 a day from last year. The busiest days are expected to be Sept. 2 and Sept. 1, respectively. Airlines for America said the carriers are expected to increase their number of seats available by 4% to accommodate the increase in demand. Fares were down 5.2% in 2015 and are down 6% so far in 2016, the trade group said, which makes air travel a relative bargain and is helping fuel the expected surge in Labor Day travel this year. In H1 2016, 10 leading US airlines collectively reported pretax profit of $12b, up from $11.3b a year earlier. That translated into a profit margin of 15.5%, or 15 and a half cents on each dollar of revenue. The improvement came on a 1.9% drop in expenses, with falling fuel prices making up for increases in aircraft, airport costs and labor. Employee wages and benefits alone have risen 35% since 2010, to $3.44b a month from $2.55b a month, the trade group said.<br/>