Holiday travel season fails to boost flight bookings in the US

In what has come as a surprise, the upcoming festive season that includes Thanksgiving, leading up to Christmas and then New Year celebrations, has not lifted the numbers for flights bookings in the USA. It was expected by most of the airlines that the numbers of flight bookings would rise with the nearing of holiday travel season. In fact, on the contrary, there is a rise in the number of cancelled flights as well as a marked decline in the number of flights being booked.

The major reason for the trend has been attributed to the surging Coronavirus cases across the USA. United Airlines also stated that, "There has been a deceleration in system bookings and an uptick in cancellations as a result of the recent spike in Covid-19 cases." Reportedly, the airline had also increased the number of flights earlier, anticipating more fliers as Thanksgiving approached.
The trends have quashed hopes of a resurgence in the aviation industry, already having a bad year with Covid-19, hitting the industry hard right since March 2020. The current decline in the flight bookings is also impacted by US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) discouraging citizens from non-essential travel. It has also urged people to stay at home, with the recommendation that people "think twice" when it comes to holiday travel.

Alaska Air Group Inc commented on the same as well as other regulations, stating that “We believe that renewed restrictions by many state and local governments have negatively impacted demand in the immediate term.”
While the sales in November are not expected to bring any marked cheer to the aviation industry, December is expected to ring in some good news.