We just got back from Simplifying Travel 2023

 Listed below are some of the tidbits that we learned about at Executive Travel’s business travel management program in Fort Lauderdale this past weekend. Wow was it humid in FLL. Makes me appreciate living in Nebraska (I may not say that in January!) .

It’s official, the travel industry has rebounded to surpass pre-COVID levels – TSA checkpoint volumes in September finally exceeded those in 2019. 2023 saw massive numbers of people traveling and it was encouraging to see that we can now officially report that the travel industry is running on all cylinders. The one giant piece of the puzzle still missing however, is that business travel is still only about 80% of per-COVID strength. That piece is expected to keep growing in 2024 and beyond.  CLICK HERE to see and hear more from our podcast.

Airports are seeing 9% fewer flights but 4% more seats as airlines move to larger airplanes – One big trend this year is that almost all the airlines are moving rapidly away from smaller airplanes, like the 50 seat regional jets, and replacing them with larger 150 plus seat aircraft. This means fewer flights with more seats. This is one way that the airlines can deal with higher labor costs and higher fuel prices. They can fly larger aircraft with almost the same labor costs and the new planes are very fuel efficient. The big plus for the travelers is they have a much better comfort experience in a larger aircraft, plus first class seating. CLICK HERE to find out more.

Check out our Weekly Travel Alert Podcast – Did you know our Weekly Travel Alert Video Podcast is available on YouTube plus all your favorite podcast stations, Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast ? Each week we are adding new and upgraded features. Please jump on board.  CLICK HERE to see the Weekly Travel Alert podcast that is hot off the presses.

Travel to Mexico, Europe and Latin American has been the big winners for international travel growth in 2023 – American released the pent up demand from being stuck at home with COVID by hitting the airways to get out of Dodge. Mexico was clearly the big winner as they saw a 30% positive change in travel compared to 2019. Travel over the Atlantic was up about 15% as was travel to Latin America. The big loser in international travel was of course travel over the Pacific as China, until recently, was shut down altogether. They were down a whopping 34% and travel to Canada was down 18% as measured in September of 2023. CLICK HERE to listen to Paul and I discuss this more.

International ticket sales are up an amazing 10% compared to 2019 –If you traveled to Europe this summer you know how much international travel to Europe has been in 2023. While domestic travel is just now rebounding to 2019 levels, international travel is up an amazing 10% compared to 2019. Not only was it hot in Europe this summer but when I visited Rome in June that I could not walk on the sidewalks as there were so many people there. I had to walk in the street. Our podcast has more on this phenomenon. CLICK HERE,

The one great thing that came out of the pandemic was that airlines were forced to drop charging $200 for changing your airline reservations – We learned at our Simplifying Travel 2023 conference that the airlines lost $2.5 billion in reservation change fees when they were forced to eliminate them. That is more money than some airlines make in a whole year. I don’t see that the airlines will restore these fees as both Southwest and United are advertising they don’t charge you a fee to change your reservations. CLICK HERE for more.

The airlines balance sheets are so sick only one airline has investment grade debt – Southwest is the only airline in the U.S. to have investment grade debt. This means that all the airlines are going to have to pay much more for their loans when they come due. It won’t keep them from being able to bring on new aircraft, as the airplane manufacturers will give them the credit they need. I am not a licensed stock broker, however, I would not not touch investing in airline stock with a 10 foot pole in 2024. HERE is more.