If you thought the airports were crowded this year, just wait until 2024.
We can probably all agree that this year was a kind of tough for air travelers.
The volume of flying-related complaints in 2023 was larger than the record-setting previous year, according to a study released in October by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
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In fact, the complaints were so numerous that the U.S. Department of Transportation couldn't keep up with them, the report said.
Most of the complaints during the last few years stem from flights that were later cancelled, refunds not provided for canceled flights which are required by law and lost or damaged luggage, according to the study.
Flights for were fuller this year than they were in 2019, the year before the pandemic-but there were fewer flights in 2023, the report said, “meaning the same number of people stuffed onto have fewer flights.”
Now the International Air Transport Association is looking ahead to 2024 and one thing the organization forecasts in the coming year is more people on planes.
More people expected to travel
Some 4.7 billion people are expected to travel in 2024, IATA said, "an historic high that exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 4.5 billion recorded in 2019."
As for the dollars and cents, IATA called for revenue growth of 7.6% in 2024, reaching a record $964 billion.
Airline operating profits will rise from $40.7 billion in 2023 to $49.3 billion next year, while net profits will increase more moderately, from $23.3 billion in 2023 to $25.7 billion in 2024 — with a 2.7% net profit margin.
A third of travelers surveyed said they are traveling more than they did prior to the pandemic. Forty-nine percent indicated that their travel habits are now similar to pre-pandemic levels, while 18% said that they were traveling less.
Forty-four percent said that they will travel more in the next 12 months than in the previous 12 months.
Seven percent they will travel less than they did this year, and 48% expect to maintain similar levels of travel in the coming 12 months.
“People love to travel and that has helped airlines to come roaring back to pre-pandemic levels of connectivity," Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said in a statement. "The speed of the recovery has been extraordinary; yet it also appears that the pandemic has cost aviation about four years of growth."
Net profit margin low
From 2024, he added "the outlook indicates that we can expect more normal growth patterns for both passenger and cargo."
But while the recovery is impressive, Walsh said, a net profit margin of 2.7% is far below what investors in almost any other industry would accept
"Of course, many airlines are doing better than that average, and many are struggling," he said. "But there is something to be learned from the fact that, on average airlines will retain just $5.45 for every passenger carried. "
"That’s about enough to buy a basic ‘grande latte’ at a London Starbucks," Walsh added. "But it is far too little to build a future that is resilient to shocks for a critical global industry on which 3.5% of GDP depends and from which 3.05 million people directly earn their livelihoods."
Walsh said that airlines will always compete ferociously for their customers, "but they remain far too burdened by onerous regulation, fragmentation, high infrastructure costs and a supply chain populated with oligopolies.” .
The high demand for travel coupled with limited capacity due to persistent supply chain issues continues to create supply and demand conditions supporting yield growth, IATA said.
Passenger yields, or the average amount of revenue received per paying passenger flown one mile, in 2024 are expected to improve by 1.8% compared with 2023.
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