Airline revenue is pressured in ‘off-trend’ calendar quirk for holiday season

Airlines are coping with a calendar quirk that’s prompting more fliers to book flights on either side of December, creating an air pocket in the last month of the year. The US Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 24 was the earliest its been since 2018, prompting more travelers to take a return trip the same month — unlike in the past three years when some of that spilled into December. And because many people will be on holiday Monday, Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, more fliers are delaying their trek back home until early January. As a result, fewer seats are being booked in December. “Four additional off-peak days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as Christmas timing incentivizing January return travel” are behind the quirk, JPMorgan analysts Jamie Baker and Mark Streeter wrote Thursday in a research note to clients. Investor anxiety over December booking trends have hurt airline stocks, even as Delta emphasized it’s seeing strong demand. An S&P 500 index of major US carries is down more than 7% this month. <br/>