US Travel Agency Air Ticket Sales Down 17% in July

The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) reports that air ticket sales have significantly decreased by 17% during the June to July month-long duration. The said report marks a 95% decline in year-over-year sales from July 2019. An overall total sale of merely $387 million was collected from ticket sales during this year-long period as compared to the $8 billion of the previous duration.

From June to July 2020, the following results were observed:

• The total number of passenger travels went down by 10%;
• US domestic travels decreased by 14%; and
• International travel went up by 2%.

Year-Over-Year Comparison

In contrast to 2019’s total passenger trips, this year’s overall number went down by 80%. The total number of July 2019 to July 2020 passenger travels is only 5,116,520, a striking contrast to July 2018 to July 2019 record of 25,060,633.

Overall domestic travel went down by 77%, as well, with just 3.6 million year-over-year total. The total number of international trips showed an 84% decline as well. This resulted in a mere total of 1.4 million passengers.

Reasons for Decrease

There are several reasons for the impactful decrease in air tickets. The looming threat of the rapid transmission brought about massive lockdowns all over the country, halting the typical hustle and bustle of travelers.

COVID-19 Transmission

Current data asserts that the total of COVID-19 cases in the US is already 5,967,010—a huge number considering that the country’s present population is 331,298,704. Despite the desire and need of many Americans to travel, the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases severely affected previously made arrangements.

Massive Lockdowns

Similarly, the imposition of various lockdowns and quarantine protocols heavily caused the said decrease in air ticket sales. All over the country, different states adapted quarantine mandates with various public areas closed in an effort to reduce and eradicate community infection.

International travel was also lessened due to different safety and health measures created by various governments all over the world, limiting traveler entry into their borders. This is aside from the US government’s own strict health and safety protocols that also censure arrivals in all its various airports.

Social Distancing and WFH Set-Ups

Consequently, social distancing meant the massive reduction of gatherings among individuals. Numerous businesses, offices, and institutions adapted the work-from-home (WFH) set-up, significantly reducing the number of necessary domestic and international flights.

Instead of traveling to initiate various work and business transactions personally, most employers started doing virtual meetings and transactions to avoid massive infection in the traditional work environment. Employees are now encouraged to conduct daily work in the comfort of their own homes, eradicating the need to commute to work each day. Most schools started using the same online set-up, as well.

Summary

The significant decrease in air ticket sales will continue to manifest while the COVID-19 pandemic occurs. Due to the continuing increase in COVID-19 cases within the country and throughout the world, many regular travelers are hesitant to take different trips, both domestically and internationally.