The airline industry is expecting another record-breaking Memorial Day weekend and summer, an indication that demand could be ticking back up.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that the peak for Memorial Day weekend flights was Thursday, with nearly 54,000 flights that day. The agency added that it expects flight numbers to steadily grow this summer and reach a peak at the end of July.
American Airlines said it will operate 38,000 flights during Memorial Day weekend, with the busiest days being Thursday and Friday.
The Fort Worth-based airline is expanding its summer schedule by 5% and is debuting new routes to Athens, Madrid, Milan, and Rome. The most popular destinations for American customers are London, Orlando, and Boston, the company said.
United Airlines said it expects to fly 3.8 million people for Memorial Day weekend, around 300,000 more than last year.
Around 50 million people are expected to fly United this summer, an increase of about 3 million compared to last year, the Chicago-based carrier said.
For the upcoming long weekend, United said it will operate over 4,600 flights daily and Friday will be its busiest day, with 550,000 passengers expected to travel.
United said its most popular international destinations for Memorial Day weekend include Cancun, London, and Frankfurt. Customers flying to Frankfurt connect with Lufthansa to travel to other European cities through the Star Alliance network, the carrier said.
The top domestic destinations for United are Orlando, Las Vegas, Boston, and San Diego.
Will Economic Uncertainty No Longer Impact Airlines?
The sunny summer forecast comes after airlines reported a tepid outlook for the year due to economic uncertainty brought on by tariffs, declining consumer confidence and a sinking stock market.
Multiple airlines, including Delta, American, Southwest, and Alaska, pulled their 2025 guidance and cut their first quarter forecasts.
However, international and premium travel has been a bright spot for the industry. United chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said during an earnings call April 16 that high demand for international travel had offset softness in domestic travel.
Domestic airfares had also started to fall as a result of softer demand. Airlines had too many domestic seats but are now paring back capacity to better match with demand.
However, domestic airfares were up for Memorial Day weekend, indicating that demand was increasing, according to a May 5 report from Deutsche Bank.
Airlines Sector Stock Index Performance Year-to-Date
What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies.
The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance.
Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
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