About 906 million travelers passed through U.S. airports in 2025, an all-time high but representing less than 1 percent of year-over-year growth, according to an analysis from AAA Northeast.
By comparison, domestic air travel volume rose 5.3 percent in 2024 and 13 percent in 2023.
Transportation Security Administration data showed some significant shifts in when people traveled, with more travelers opting to fly on Thursdays and Sundays and fewer departing on Mondays and Tuesdays. “One explanation might be softness in business travel early in the workweek and continued strength in leisure travel, which tends to occur closer to weekends,” AAA noted.
Sundays remained the busiest travel day of the week, while Tuesday was the slowest. “Travelers looking for the best prices should look for trips that begin and end on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when passenger volumes are lighter,” AAA advised.
Travel during shoulder season rose 3 percent year over year, suggesting that more travelers are seeking value when vacationing.
Travel volume got off to a slow start in 2025, with more people taking flights as the year wore on. Noting that most leisure travelers plan trips three to six months out, AAA suggested that economic uncertainty in late 2024 and early 2025 may have contributed to lagging travel numbers in the first half of the year.
“As consumer sentiment improved, bookings increased for the second half of the year,” according to the report.
Summer continues to be the busiest time of year for domestic travel. A year-over-year decline in travel during the months of November and December was likely related to the shutdown of the U.S. government from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12.
“Interestingly, travel during the actual shutdown period was up 2.2 percent in 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. However, travel volume declined beginning Nov. 7, when the FAA ordered a reduction in flights. Passenger volume was down 6.21 percent between Nov. 7 and 12, 2025, compared to 2024,” according to AAA.
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