The Air Transport Association of America advises passengers to expect full flights during the upcoming Thanksgiving travel season, even though roughly 37,000 fewer people per day are expected to fly during the holiday period compared with last year, as U.S. carriers have reduced capacity to match demand and offset higher costs.

In total, ATA expects about 23.2 million air travelers will fly on U.S. carriers’ domestic and international routes during a 12-day period (Friday, Nov. 18-Tuesday, Nov. 29) surrounding the holiday – a 2 percent year-over-year drop – and down from the 23.6 million people who flew over the Thanksgiving period in 2010. The 2011 forecast anticipates that total volumes for the period will be 12 percent less than the peak volumes reached in the same period in 2006.

Daily passenger volumes during this holiday period will range from 1.3 million to 2.3 million. Based on sample data from 2009 and 2010, the busiest air-travel days for the period are expected to be Sunday, Nov. 27 and Monday, Nov. 28, followed by Friday, Nov. 18, with load factors exceeding 85 percent.

Especially during the busy holiday travel season, passengers are encouraged to check their flight status at their air carrier’s website before leaving for the airport, and to remember to arrive early to allow plenty of time for check-in and security screening. In addition, ATA encourages passengers to consult its resource page for recommended travel tips. It is strongly recommended that all passengers review the website of the airline on which they are flying to find airline-specific policies, amenities, customer-service plans and flight-operation alert notifications.

Source: ATA