November air traffic numbers shaping up to be disappointing
Just a day after McCarran International Airport reported a 12.8 percent decline in October traffic, clues about November’s traffic are piling up.
On Monday Southwest Airlines reported a nationwided decline of 8.3 percent in the amount of "revenue miles flown." The airline didn't report market-specific numbers, but Las Vegas is its busiest destination and it makes sense to expect Sin City traffic will follow the national trend.
Today, Allegiant Travel Co. announced November passenger traffic was up 7.9 percent for its national network. The airline, which flies to Las Vegas, Arizona and Florida, also boosted its load factor 10.9 percent, meaning it is getting more people on each plane.
That's the good news.
The bad news is even with the increase, Las Vegas-based Allegiant represents just 313,245 passengers for November nationwide. Southwest flies more people to and from Las Vegas alone in 10 days, meaning Southwest's performance is more indicative of what to expect when McCarran publishes its next round of numbers.
