Adobe continues to track the airline recovery with new Adobe Analytics data for U.S. domestic flight bookings online. Adobe provides the most comprehensive report of its kind, measuring direct consumer transactions from six of the top 10 U.S. airlines and over 150 billion web visits.
June 2022
Prices for domestic flights eased slightly in June, decreasing 6.4 percent month over month (MoM). However, prices remain above pre-pandemic levels with a 23.7 percent increase since 2019. This marks the fifth consecutive month where prices have stayed above pre-pandemic levels (May 2022 up 30 percent; April 2022 up 27 percent; March 2022 up 20 percent — February 2022 up 5 percent). Prices have also increased significantly over the course of the year, rising 38 percent since January 2022.
Domestic flight bookings in June 2022 drove $7.9 billion in online spend, a 5.7 percent decrease from the month prior (May 2022, $8.3 billion), and equivalent to $400 million less in consumer spend. Bookings are down by 2.8 percent on a monthly basis and are below pre-pandemic levels by 1 percent.
Inflation in ticket prices continues to impact consumer purchasing power. Online spending for domestic flights is still above pre-pandemic levels by 25.4 percent compared to June 2019. Bookings, however, are down 1 percent, highlighting the impact of elevated prices. Like previous months, the wide gap indicates that consumers have been paying considerably more for the same amount of service. Year to date, consumers have spent a total of $45.2 billion online for domestic flights.
“The changing economic landscape and inflated expense for travel is impacting how consumers reprioritize their budgets,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst with Adobe Digital Insights. “While flight prices saw mild easing in June, they remain high. As a result, we are starting to see summer bookings growth plateau and dip below pre-pandemic levels. However, interest in marquis holidays like Labor Day remains consistent.”