Domestic trips by US residents

The number of domestic trips by US residents has turned the corner since the recession. With ever-improving technologies, flying is safer and relatively cheaper than in decades past. Additionally, the internet and new informational systems have enabled businesses to service clients over larger areas. As a result, business travel has increased as companies seek out new clients nationwide. While the availability of cheap teleconferencing now threatens business travel, this trend has yet to become pervasive enough to place a large drag on domestic flights. For example, according to The Global Business Travel Association, spending by US business travelers increased by 7.1% in the second quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.

Before the Great Recession, domestic travel peaked at 681.5 million enplanements in 2007, declining 4.1% and 5.1% in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The decline in domestic trips by US residents over these years was in step with the broader economic climate, revealing the close connection between the two. Many flights are optional rather than necessary, causing declines during financial uncertainty. A similar contraction occurred in 2001 and 2002 when the dot com bubble burst, leading to 6.6% and 1.1% reductions in total enplanements for those years, respectively. The decline in domestic travel ceased in 2010, rising 1.9% from the previous year as the economic climate stabilized. Yet, growth in domestic trips was lackluster for several years after, largely due to elevated unemployment rates and persistent economic uncertainty. Alternatively, improvements in the macroeconomic landscape and declining oil prices resulted in a surge in domestic trips from 2014 to 2019. The advent of online shopping for airfares has provided support for domestic trips.

Nonetheless, growth significantly declined during 2020 due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, which spread across the globe. The impact of the spread domestically was severe, with large swaths of the economy curtailed to slow the spread of the virus. The airline industry was especially affected, as a significant portion of the population was placed under shelter-in-place orders. While travel began rebounding toward the end of the year, domestic travel fell dramatically during the middle of the year and remained depressed; in 2020, domestic travel declined by 58.4%. This decline was the largest on record, far greater than the second-largest decline of 6.6% in 2001. Conversely, growth was at its highest in 2021, with domestic trips increasing by 79.5%. As the economy fully reopened in 2022, domestic trips increased an additional 23.9% during the year, fueled by high levels of consumer spending, despite interest rate hikes. Though growth decelerated during 2023, domestic trips increased an additional 9.2% during the year. Despite significant growth in recent years, domestic trips decreased in 2024 as activity reached pandemic levels. Additionally, higher interest rates combined with increased costs have worked to partially limit growth. In 2025, as interest rates begin to fall, domestic trips will slightly increase 1.7%.