Miami Valley aviation expert weighs in on holiday travel during pandemic

For the first time since mid-March, more than 1 million people in the United States flew in a single day, according to TSA.

The agency reported 1,031,505 travelers Sunday. On the same weekday a year ago, the number was 2,606,266.

“Airlines have started cutting service from certain cities that aren’t profitable and unfortunately they’ve been laying off employees,” Miami Valley based aviation expert, Jay Ratliff said.

Earlier this month, American airlines cut 19,000 jobs. United Airlines cut 13,000 jobs.

“The biggest thing is when we start seeing flights cut, that means a reduction in service, so as flights are reduced, fewer seats, the airfares tend to go higher,” Ratliff said. “That works against us from a consumer standpoint because the fewer of anything, the more expensive it’s going to be.”

Ratliff said holiday travelers should start looking at flight prices now, so they can figure out what the average fare is. Then he said, check back early in the morning when airlines drop their prices. If customers find a deal, they should book immediately.

“If you spend time thinking about it, the seats are going to be gone,” Ratliff said.

If customers' travel plans change, airlines are offering credit with no change fees.

“It’s really the only time that airlines have exhibited any customer service that we’ve seen over the last several years,” Ratliff said.

He explained, this gives customers some power.

“With us traveling as we did, with load factors 85, 87 percent, airlines could treat us any way they wanted, and we kept coming back. Had we stopped flying, the airlines would have been forced to increase their service. They never did. They’re trying to do that now to kind of sway customers to come back,” Ratliff said.

Cox Media Group