U.S. airlines expect fewer fliers for Thanksgiving holiday this year.

Nov. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- Fewer passengers will fly during the Thanksgiving holiday, said a trade group of airlines.

About 23.2 million passengers - 2% less than a year ago - will fly on U.S. carriers' domestic and international flights between 18 November and 29 November, the Air Transport Association said Thursday.

"While demand is down from last year and remains well below the 2006 peak, passengers should still expect full flights during the Thanksgiving holiday travel season as airlines began to reduce capacity," says the chief economist John Heimlich of the ATA.

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Volumes of passengers daily during the holiday period will range from 1300000 to 2300000. Based on sample data from 2009 and 2010, the busiest days for air travel for the period should be Sunday, November 27 and Monday, November 28, he said.

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ATA also said net income for passenger airlines in the United States for the first nine months of the year fell 66% to 913 million. Compensation and recent reports of traffic, the major U.S. carriers reported sluggish demand and high fuel prices that continue to hamper profitability. Fuel expenses increased 38.1% over the first nine months of the year compared with a year earlier, he said.

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