Labor Day air travel clears airlines’ 2019 rankings after a rocky summer

Data released Tuesday indicated that the peak summer travel season ended on a high note over the Labor Day weekend with an increase in air travelers and relatively smooth operations.

The Transportation Security Administration inspected nearly 8.76 million people from Friday to Monday, higher than the pre-pandemic level of 8.6 million inspected over the same weekend in 2019.

It was the first holiday weekend since the outbreak that TSA inspections have topped 2019, marking the toughest recovery phase in air travel. Airlines have scaled back their schedules this winter to help with flight delays as they struggle with labor shortages.

Flight disruptions during the popular travel weekend were below recent trends, aided by good weather.

US airlines canceled just 0.6% of more than 90,000 flights, and 16% were delayed, according to FlightAware. That compares to 2.1% of US carriers’ canceled flights on May 27, the Friday before Memorial Day. Over 22% of flights were delayed during that period.

Last Thursday, the Department of Transportation released a new dashboard detailing what passengers can get if their flight is canceled or delayed.

Executives from major U.S. carriers, including United and American, are expected to offer outlooks for the fall and typically busy year-end holiday season at an industry conference starting Wednesday.