US: Airline ticket sales dipped in May, but the industry remains optimistic

Airline ticket sales fell a little in May after rising steadily in the first four months of the year, according to a firm that tracks bookings, suggesting that demand for tickets for summer travel might not be quite as strong as airlines had hoped. Consumers spent more than $5b for flights within the US in May, a 4% drop from April and 20% lower than the same month in 2019, according to an analysis based on the Adobe Digital Economy Index. The estimates are drawn from website tracking data from six of the top 10 US airlines. The airlines sold more than $21b in domestic tickets from January through May. It is not clear why bookings were lower in May and whether the trend has continued into June. But analysts and airline executives have expressed optimism in recent weeks that demand for travel is strong. The number of people flying has risen relatively steadily since January, according to the TSA. Other countries are increasingly opening up, too. United Airlines said it set booking records each of the past three weeks for flights across the Atlantic Ocean, and the EU urged its member states on Friday to lift a ban on nonessential travel for Americans.<br/>