Major U.S. airlines said Monday that the booming U.S. economy is what led to a record-breaking level of travel over the summer.
“With a growing economy, steady employment gains, and household net worth at an all-time high in the first quarter of 2018 ($100.8 billion), passengers are taking advantage of persistently low airfares,” a spokesperson for Airlines 4 America, which represents the largest U.S. airlines, wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.
From the Wednesday prior to Memorial Day and the Tuesday after Labor Day, the Transportation Security Administration processed 253 million passengers and crew, a 6 percent jump from last summer.
The TSA said that nine of the top 10 busiest weeks in its 15-year history occurred this summer.- READ MORE
[divider][/divider]The U.S. economy keeps moving strongly forward; in the second quarter of 2018, it crescendoed to its best performance since the third quarter of 2014.
The Commerce Department announced on Wednesday that gross domestic product (GDP) increased at a 4.2% annualized rate, up from 4.1% in July. According to Reuters, business spending on software increased more than previously estimated and the U.S. imported less petroleum.
Over the first half of 2018, the economy grew 3.2%; consumer spending was stimulated by the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion tax cut package, which cut the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% starting Jan. 1. – READ MORE
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