Top US airports see fewer flights post-pandemic

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Top US airports see fewer flights post-pandemic

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Jake Hardiman Senior Editor | Simple Flying

By Sky Industry News

Jul 9, 2024

The USA's 20 busiest airports account for 78% of the country's flights, with services currently 5% lower than in July 2019. Five airports have experienced a significant reduction, losing over 100 daily departures each, with Chicago O'Hare down by 239. Detroit has seen nearly one in four outbound flights cut.

Despite the time elapsed since COVID-19 disrupted global travel, not all sectors have returned to pre-pandemic levels. This includes flight operations at the USA’s busiest airports. According to Cirium data, these top 20 airports collectively have 412,350 July departures, averaging 13,300 daily one-way flights. They represent nearly eight out of ten of the country's flights (78%).

However, current services are still down by approximately 5% compared to July 2019. The net loss is around 19,500 monthly and 630 daily departures. Conversely, when considering seats for sale and available seat miles (ASMs), there has been growth: seats per flight increased from 137 to 152 and ASMs rose by 4%.

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Five major airports have lost over 100 daily departures each. Chicago O'Hare International Airport, the third-busiest globally and in the US, has seen a reduction of about 239 daily departures (-18%). This average varies depending on specific days.

Southwest Airlines' services at O'Hare decreased by a third; American Airlines' by a quarter; and United Airlines' by a fifth. These airlines have shifted their growth priorities elsewhere while also facing reduced business travel demand and fleet adjustments.

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport has particularly felt this impact with a nearly one-quarter reduction in its outbound flights. Delta Air Lines is largely responsible for this decline (-27%), whereas other airlines saw an overall decrease of -11%. Delta's upgauging efforts at Detroit mean that although flight numbers dropped significantly, seat capacity did not reduce as drastically due to larger aircraft being used.

Delta Connection flights from Detroit fell by half while non-regional jet operations increased slightly by 1%. The airport now serves fewer non-stop destinations—107 compared to the previous count of 131 in July 2019—and has dropped from being the world's 30th busiest airport pre-pandemic to the current rank of 54th.