Airline traffic has been on the rise this year. Several newspapers have been reporting a rise in passenger traffic for airlines like
Delta, American, US Airways, and
AirTran. Even passenger traffic at
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shot up 8.8 percent from last year, the highest monthly increase in more than two years, according to the
Sun-Sentinel.
Delta
According to the
Associated Press,
Delta Air Lines Inc. said on Tuesday that they saw June traffic rise 4.2 percent, filling 88 percent of their seats. Delta is considered the world’s largest airline, raking in 18.53 billion revenue passenger miles in the month of June, comparing to 17.78 billion revenue passenger miles in June of 2009.
American
Terry Maxon, a writer for
AirportBusiness.com, wrote that
American Airlines, Inc. said Tuesday its June passenger traffic saw a 3.2 percent increase, overwhelming the 1.3 percent increase in flying capacity. American’s international routes were the source of most of the traffic increase: 15.4 percent across the pacific, 5.9 percent to Latin America, and 5.1 percent across the Atlantic.
US Airways
Maxon also wrote that
US Airways, Inc. reported its traffic increasing 2.9 percent in June. The airline estimated that its passenger revenues per available seat mile sky-rocketed 22 percent compared to a weak June 2009.
AirTran
Associated Press also reported that
AirTran Airways’ June traffic jumped 7.4 percent setting a company record for the month and the second quarter. With 1.89 billion revenue passenger miles, there was an increase from 1.76 billion revenue passenger miles in June 2009.
Why are More People Traveling?
Several new airlines have been introduced since November 2009 including Aires, with service to Columbia, Virgin America, with service to California, and Condor, with service to Frankfurt, Germany. Jet Blue has added service to San Francisco. American, Delta, and Hawaii were all recently rewarded routes to Tokyo. Airlines are also reporting steady increases in passenger capacity.
What Does this Mean for Flight Training Students?
With more and more people choosing to travel again, pilots recently graduated from
flight training will have more job opportunities than ever. Pilots are currently in high demand, so there has never been a better time to attend
flight training school.