Photo provided by @flyingboeing787 on Instagram
FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines is ready to close out 2024 by welcoming nearly 12.7 million customers across more than 118,000 flights for winter holiday travel. This comes after the airline delivered strong operational performance during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, including leading the industry in on-time departures.
“American delivered industry-leading operational performance over Thanksgiving, and I’d like to thank our team members for their hard work in safely caring for our customers,” said David Seymour, American’s Chief Operating Officer. “We look forward to continuing that momentum as millions once again take to the skies for holiday gatherings and winter vacations.”
American’s operation has been fully winterized to safely and successfully operate this winter. The airline’s deicing operation is also ready and is already well underway at many cold-weather airports.
During the 2024 Thanksgiving travel period, American canceled the fewest mainline flights compared to its major network competitors. There were four days during the travel period when the airline did not cancel a single mainline flight, three days when the airline didn’t cancel a single regional flight and one day when the airline did not cancel a mainline or regional flight.
6 quick facts about American’s winter holiday operation:
- American’s travel period runs from Dec. 18, 2024, to Jan. 6, 2025.
- The most-traveled day will be Friday, Dec. 27, while the second-most traveled day is Friday, Dec. 20.
- 1,500 mainline and regional aircraft will travel more than 102 million miles during the travel period. That’s nearly 1.1 trillion candy canes laid end to end.
- During the winter holiday period, American will serve more than 6.6 million bags of pretzels.
- The peak of peak: 1,074 mainline and regional aircraft are scheduled to be enroute at 12:40 p.m. CT on Sunday, Dec. 22, the highest number of flights handled at any given time during the period.
- During last year’s holiday season, American customers watched nearly 20 million minutes of holiday-themed movies and TV shows while in flight. The airline will once again offer a collection of top holiday content for our customers to enjoy during their travels.
More 2024 customer stats can be found in the American Airlines Rewind.
American encourages customers to follow these tips:
Travel starts before you leave home.
- Make sure you’ve downloaded the American Airlines app, use it to check in for your flight, check flight status and add bags to your trip. This will save you time at the airport.
- If you haven’t already, join the AAdvantage® travel rewards program for free and add your member number to your trip. This will help you earn miles for future free travel and lock in earlier boarding. AAdvantage® members can also use the app to track their Loyalty Points earned toward AAdvantage® status.
- If traveling internationally, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which can speed up your entry into the U.S. Global Entry members can download the Global Entry app, which allows you to submit your entry upon landing which then allows you to go straight to the officer bypassing the kiosks.
Your American Airlines app is the ticket to an easy experience at the airport.
- Use the app to find information about your journey, including flight status, connecting gate, baggage tracking and where to claim your bags.
- Upon arrival at the airport lobby, scan your mobile boarding pass to print bag tags quickly at a kiosk. If you’re not checking bags, go straight to TSA security with your mobile boarding pass.
- Use the maps feature in the app to help navigate many of the airports to which American flies, including how to find the nearest Admirals Club® location.
- Have a question? Chat live with someone about your travel 24/7 through the app.
About American Airlines Group
As a leading global airline, American Airlines offers thousands of flights per day to more than 350 destinations in more than 60 countries. The airline is a founding member of the oneworld® alliance, whose members serve more than 900 destinations around the globe. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. Learn more about what’s happening at American by visiting news.aa.com and connect with American @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines. To Care for People on Life’s Journey®.