27 July: Weekly US & Canada COVID-19 Aviation Traffic Report

Traffic Plateaus as Year-Over-Year Passenger Demand Declines

Big change in tone from a couple of weeks ago, as COVID-19 cases in the US continue to climb, year-over-year TSA screening volumes began been decreasing after Independence Day for the first time since they bottomed out in April - not a good signal for the airlines.

The airlines, for the most part, ramped up their schedules ahead of anticipated passenger demand this month, with derived load factors peaking on July 2, and falling since. For the first time in a while, there's now news of airlines reducing schedules in reaction to demand. We're not seeing a decrease in the number of commercial passenger flights just yet, but I imagine that'll be apparent by the week after next. Looking at the number of departures by airlines, it's disheartening to see flat or negative growth in the last few weeks.

Weekly Departures by Airline and Airport

Daily Departures by Airline and Airport

Fleet Evolution

Nick Benson

Nick lives in Burnsville, Minnesota with his wife and three children. He grooves on railroad and aviation photography, politics, geography, weather, and LEGO. He started JetTip's smart flight alert service in 2017, and is now a full-time avgeek. He can frequently be found atop a step ladder at MSP's Aircraft Viewing Area.