United Airlines expects the holiday season to be a record high again, continuing the trend seen during every holiday season in 2024.
United expects to carry more than 9.9 million passengers between December 19 and January 6, an increase of 12% from last year.
- On average, nearly 520,000 people will travel with United each day during the holiday season (based on current bookings) – about 62,000 more people per day than last year.
- Friday, December 20, Friday, December 27, and Saturday, December 28 are expected to be the busiest travel days with more than 540,000 people traveling with United each day.
- United will operate nearly 4,500 flights daily and has added nearly 500 flights per day on average to handle this increase in demand.
- The most popular New Year’s destinations outside of United’s hub cities are: Orlando, Las Vegas, Cancun, Fort Lauderdale and Honolulu.
- United carried a record number of passengers during every major travel period in 2024, including Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and recorded its highest single-day customer satisfaction scores during the Thanksgiving period.
- Even with record passenger numbers, United maintains safe, reliable and efficient operations. Year to date, United ranks second among the eight largest U.S. airlines in on-time departure performance.
Travel Tips and Tricks to Make Getting Around Easier
United offers services to optimize the trip:
- The United mobile application, to be downloaded before departure, makes traveling easier, sometimes without even requiring you to unlock the phone. Travelers can save up to 30 minutes on average at the airport with the following features: mobile check-in, personalized guidance to the boarding gate, live flight updates on the phone’s lock screen and Apple Watch, baggage tracking and access to free in-flight entertainment.
- Nearly 70% of passengers used the United app to check in during the Thanksgiving travel period.
The company offers several solutions to obtain the seat of your choice, if it is available:
- United is the only airline that allows passengers to save their seat preference in the app and change seats for free if that preferred seat becomes available before departure.
- United is also the first and only airline to offer a digital, dynamic cabin seat map when booking, which allows children under 12 to select a seat next to an adult in the party for free. Since the feature launched last year, hundreds of thousands of families have been able to book seats together for free.
- To avoid lines, United offers a contactless ID system at select airports that allows passengers to pass through security without showing an ID, simply by enabling this option when checking in in the United app . The latter also provides access to the “Agent on Demand” service – a virtual customer service tool allowing passengers to communicate by video, message or telephone with a customer service representative.
- More than 28,000 Agent on Demand calls were made during the Thanksgiving travel period alone.
- Onboard, passengers can enjoy a variety of services: United kids’ travel kits with activities for younger travelers, holiday movies on seat screens or through the United app, and plenty of dining options.
A record year with nearly 175 million passengers transported
With nearly 175 million passengers carried, the company records a historic performance and provides an overview of the main trends observed on United flights during the year 2024.
The Taylor Swift effect boosted traffic to Europe
The “Eras Tour” phenomenon has significantly impacted air traffic, generating an average increase of 25% in demand on United flights. European dates particularly stimulated attendance, particularly to Milan and Munich, with increases of 40% compared to the previous year.
New in-flight entertainment habits
A surprising trend is emerging in passenger behavior, called “Rawdogging”: on average, they spent 60 minutes consulting the interactive flight map, favoring this option over other available entertainment, such as films, series or games available on the screen from their seat.
Booking Habits of Millennials
Contrary to popular belief about Millennials booking only on desktop, United found that about 1/3 of them book their United flights on United.com, while another third use the United app. In total, more than 8 million passengers booked through the United app in 2024, an increase of 15% from the previous year.
Text and image provided by the Hereban agency in France.
