US air travel is ‘overwhelmed’ and that’s putting off some flyers, industry group says

Travel is so busy this spring break season at Miami International Airport that officials are advising flyers to give themselves an extra hour – arriving three hours, rather than two – before a domestic flight. Miami International is the fastest-growing airport in the United States, setting monthly passenger records 12 of the past 13 months. Experts predict that this spring, nationwide travel will be about 1% up on this same period in 2022, when travelers surged onto flights as the pandemic subsided. The tourism industry says spring break this year could have been, but bad flying experiences from last year are holding some people back. Combined with some safety concerns after a series of runway close calls, some would-be travelers are staying at or close to home. “That is leading some travelers to say, ‘you know what, I would travel more if we could fix that air travel experience,’ ” Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the US Travel Association, told CNN. “This system is getting a bit overwhelmed because of the demand for travel,” Freeman said. “It is a system that is in dire need of investment in technology and people.” Because spring break weeks vary in different parts of the country, the aviation world looks broadly at March and April as peak months. TSA figures show March so far is about 3% slower than 2019. The Federal Aviation Administration reports nearly 50,000 flights scheduled on some peak days. Overall, industry body Airlines for America expects 158m people will fly during the two-month window. “We’re expecting this spring break to likely break records for number of travelers who are getting out there and how much they’re spending,” said Hayley Berg of the travel app Hopper.<br/>