Even with the rising cost of fuel sending flight prices soaring, demand for air travel has been consistently through the roof post-pandemic.
As many people look to see family and take long-awaited vacations put off by the pandemic, North American airlines reported a 130.2% rise in traffic between 2021 and 2022 and predict what could be double that by the time 2023 is over.
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Amid increased traffic, airlines have been planning routes carefully to minimize both congestion and the number of people who are going to popular destinations. Earlier this year, Delta (DAL) cut a number of flights between German cities and New York and Atlanta but expanded service to London's Gatwick Airport.
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Another strategy is to take flights higher and higher in the air. On May 1, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it has reworked 169 flight routes along the East Coast of the U.S. to "redistribute volume across all available airspace" for the summer season.
This means that many popular flights will cruise at 18,000 feet above the air. While longer flights usually cruise at around 30,000 feet, this change is meant for shorter domestic flights that usually fly much lower.
"The change helps prevent delays by giving the agency more capacity to direct traffic to specific routes based on the aircraft's destination," the government agency says in a press release. "When weather occurs, controllers will also have more flexibility. Finally, fewer converging points and more simple flows enhance safety."
Pilot And Staffing Shortage Makes Flight Efficiency a Priority
The changes also cut flights that have flown lower to reach ground-based radar. New flights almost entirely rely on GPS but a number of routes were still grandfathered into the old system.
Overall, the FAA estimates that the changes will shave off 6,000 minutes and 40,000 miles of travel time a year and give pilots more flexibility to change routes in cases of bad weather or other unforeseen situations.
While these specific routes affect only the East Coast, the changes come at a time when the industry is dealing with both sky-high demand and a pilot shortage.
Between the disproportionate cost of training (a $10,000 fee and 1,500 hours of paid flying practice) and a mandatory retirement age of 65, North American airlines are currently 12,000 short of pilots while even the U.S. Air Force currently has 1,500 pilots fewer than it would like.
From baggage handlers to flight attendants, the industry is dealing with a dearth of many different types of airline workers. When travel ground to a standstill amid the global outbreak of covid-19, many airlines laid off tens of thousands of staff but have struggled to rehire them fast enough to meet rebounding demand.
As a result, airlines have been looking at different ways to maximize efficiency while new low-cost airlines have been quickly carving out space in underserved markets.
"These significant improvements to our national airspace system are just in time for summer and will help travelers get to their destinations more efficiently," FAA Air Traffic Organization COO Tim Arel said in a statement. "The new routes will reduce complexity and redistribute volume across all available airspace."
