With Thanksgiving, a particularly long weekend with a lot of travel is imminent in the United States of America. However, this year the capacity is significantly lower than before the corona pandemic. There are various reasons for this.

In the USA, too, many airlines and airports are suffering from a massive shortage of staff. So far, it has not been possible to get this under control. A few months ago, the travel waves were characterized by many cancellations, delays and other chaotic circumstances. This not only annoyed passengers, but also brought complaints and fines to one or the other carrier.

The majority of US carriers have been conservative in planning for Thanksgiving. Compared to last year's public holiday weekend, capacity has increased by around 15,3 percent, but this year it is 5,2 percent below what was offered before the corona pandemic. As a result, many flights were already sold out well in advance, and last-minute travelers have to accept higher ticket prices.

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a particularly busy time for travel. Revenue is particularly important for airlines, but this year supply and demand cannot really be reconciled. In direct comparison with the value that was there before the pandemic, there are about a million fewer seats for sale this year. As a result, there are bottlenecks on "racetracks". However, the carriers do not want chaotic conditions to arise again, because most providers are aware that they have too few staff available.

While most U.S. airlines have less service than before the pandemic, there is also a counterexample. Jetblue increased supply by about a percentage point. However, this is just the proverbial drop in the ocean, as some of the much larger competitors are even two-digit percentages below the value of 2019.