US air travel plunges in November

November was the worst month for air travel in the U.S. since the terrorist attacks in 2001, with the recession continuing to erode passenger demand and a Thanksgiving holiday occurring later in the month pushing some travel into December, according to a Bloomberg news report.

American, Continental, and United airlines reported this week that November traffic dropped by 10 percent or more.

The results reported by the largest US carriers showed that worsening economic conditions are impacting both leisure and business air travel. Delta said that the global recession may lead to record levels of ‘demand destruction.’

“It’s absolutely not feasible for them to keep bleeding passengers month after month,” said Moody’s Investor Service analyst, George Godlin. “Demand is likely to be under a tremendous amount of pressure in the coming months.”

The 14.5 percent decline in November at American Airlines was the worst experienced by the carrier since January of 2002, when a decrease of 15.6 percent was recorded.

United Airlines saw its 15th consecutive monthly decline, with a fall of 17 percent - its sharpest since December of 2001.

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