US airlines expect nearly 40% Thanksgiving air travel slump

US airline trade group Airlines for America (A4A) expects 39% fewer passengers will travel by air during this year’s Thanksgiving holiday period, which will be characterised by markedly different travel patterns amid a third wave of coronavirus infections. The Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November – this year that falls on the 26th – and is traditionally the busiest travel weekend of the year in the USA. Many people take additional days off, stretching the holiday into a longer break. In 2019, US airlines carried more than 31.6m passengers during the 12 days spanning the period from the Thursday before the holiday to the Monday after. This year, they will carry just more than half that number across a longer timeframe, A4A projects. “On a day-to-day basis, the number of passengers is down about 65% year-on-year,” says Nicholas Calio, the trade group’s CE. “We hope that to go up at Thanksgiving, but the demand is softening.”<br/>