DFW Airport saw a historic holiday turnout in addition to the start of massive construction projects.
DALLAS — This story was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original version here.
2024 was a huge year for travel, both locally and across the country.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport saw historic holiday turnouts, as well as the start of massive construction projects as part of a $9 billion capital improvement plan.
The Federal Aviation Administration listed DFW Airport as the third busiest airport in the country last year, after Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, No. 1 for the fifth year in a row, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The FAA based its ranking on tower operations, with more than 750,000 handled by DFW Airport in 2023 versus more than 802,000 in Atlanta. Another closely watched ranking of the busiest airports, produced by Airports Council International using flights and passenger counts, pegged DFW Airport at No. 3 in the world in 2023 and No. 2 in the U.S.
The overall number of U.S. domestic flights rose to 16.8 million last year, according to the FAA, which was an increase of nearly half a million from 2023 despite a rise in airline ticket prices. CNBC reported that flight ticket prices were up 25%, significantly outpacing inflation. Yet travel numbers soared to the highest level since the pandemic — 17 million domestic flights were taken in 2019.
While leisure travel recovered quickly after the pandemic, the rise in flights last year can be partly linked to a gradual comeback in business travel. The U.S. Travel Association forecasted that business travel would regain 95% of its 2019 level in 2024. However, a full recovery of business travel to pre-pandemic levels is not expected until 2028.
As the number of total flights increased, cancelation rates remained the same at 1.2% in 2024, the lowest since 2016.
Delta Air Lines Inc. was the most reliable of all the major domestic airlines, clocking the highest rate of on-time arrivals for the second year in a row at 83.46%, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium. Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) recorded a total 1.7 million flights. That ranked second in the country behind Fort Worth-based American Airlines Group Inc., which reported nearly 2.2 million flights in 2024, making it the most-traveled domestic airline. American (Nasdaq: AAL) logged 77.78% on-time arrivals, ranking fourth among major domestic airlines. In 2023, American logged 80.61% on-time arrivals, however, it had fewer flights at about 2 million.
Additionally, American is retooling its strategy to court business travel after some missteps corporate travel lost the company $1.5 billion in revenue in 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) trailed closely behind American last year with 77.77% on-time arrivals. Southwest clocked 1,451,019 flights, about 9,000 fewer than the year before.
Overall, North American airlines recorded a higher on-time arrival rate in 2024 at 76.37% compared with 74.45% in 2023. It was a notable feat in a year plagued by supply chain shortages tied to the Boeing machinist strike and overall human capital levels falling behind pre-pandemic numbers in the aviation industry.
Looking outside of the United States, Iberia Express topped the charts for most on-time flights among European carriers, Copa Airline led the Latin American airlines and Japan Airlines outperformed all Asian-Pacific airlines, according to the Cirium data. Aeromexico led globally, reporting 86.70% on-time flights, although it’s worth noting that the airline only flew 196,911 total flights.