By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com
April 20, 2007
Since summer is invariably the peak period for plane travel, reports of packed planes in March suggest sardine-can conditions are just over the horizon.
Aided by weather-related cancellations that squeezed more passengers into fewer flights, four major carriers had record levels of filled seats last month.
American, Continental, Delta, and United all ran more than 80 per cent full in March, though American did not break its single-month record of 87 per cent occupancy, a record reached last July. United came close, however, with a load of 85 per cent.
Also filling four of every five seats were Northwest and US Airways.
Many consumers felt as if they were squeezed into packed planes with a giant shoehorn.
Space was especially tight after a March 16 ice storm cancelled hundreds of flights into the northeast and forced thousands of passengers to reschedule. Some of them could not find available seats for days.
Flights to and from Florida had few open seats. Consumers anxious to escape the frigid north ran into collegians enjoying spring break and even a few holiday travelers, although both Passover and Easter fell in April this year.
Delta filled 83 per cent of seats in March, while Continental filled 82.6 per cent, American filled 82.4 per cent, and US Airways filled 82 per cent. Delta enjoyed the highest boost over the previous March, 2.5 per cent.
Like the New York clothing store that says "an educated consumer is our best customer," the airline industry was the recipient of earlier bookings from an informed public. Passengers, aware that seats were at a premium, generally booked earlier for this March than they did in 2006.
They didn't always look for discount seats, however: both JetBlue and Southwest sold fewer seats for March 2007 than they did for March 2006.
