Over 58 million domestic and 9 million international passengers were carried by US airlines in January 2023, up roughly 4% from December 2022, for a total of 67.1 million passenger movements, as per the latest data released by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the United States Department of Transportation (DOT).
January 2023 figures are just marginally low, about 3.7% from the industry’s all-time high for January recorded in 2020, just prior to pandemic-lockdown.
DOT confirmed that domestic air travel had recovered 92% of pre-pandemic levels, for a total of 750,259,936 passengers for 2022. International air travel lagged at 76% of 2019’s figures, with 186,390,901 passengers mainly due to continued travel restrictions in some parts of Asia.
In response to passenger demand, airlines and airports have begun hiring sprees to ensure operations remain smooth through busy periods to prevent a repeat of disruption seen through the summer of 2022.