It's Going To Be Cheaper To Fly In America In 2015
Plane tickets are going to be cheaper in 2015 according to a recent report published by Expedia and Airline Research Corporation (ARC).
"Though a number of industry reports suggest that air ticket prices will remain stagnant or rise slightly, a thorough analysis of data has led Expedia experts to believe that prices in many of the most popular destinations actually will decline slightly," Expedia wrote.
Although this is not the case across the board - Asia is getting more expensive - the trend in North America seems to be headed towards lower prices.
Expedia attributes the dip in prices to increased flights and supply (capacity) at most of North America's major destinations. Even with fuel prices and unemployment falling, Expedia anticipates that the increase in capacity will outstrip increases in flyers.
Overall, the travel website expects the total number of flights originating from North America to increase by 5% in 2015.
Two cities that will see the biggest increase the number of available seats over the first four months of 2015 will be Dallas and Seattle, with a 14% and 13.8% increase in capacity respectively. Expedia predicts an 11.2% fall in average tickets prices (ATP) for flights out of Dallas, while flyers out Seattle will likely see a 2.1% fall in ticket prices.
The jump in available flights out of Dallas is a result of the repeal of the Wright Amendment which limited number of flight allowed in and out of Dallas Love Field, the city's secondary airport. The repeal of the amendment will allow Southwest and Virgin America to significantly bolster it's flight schedule from the airport, with a slew of new routes.
The flood of available flights out of Seattle can be attributed Delta's increased presence at SeaTac. The airline is determined to turn the airport into its gateway to the Pacific Rim. Since the airline and its Skyteam partners do not have a Japanese partner, Delta has to find a jumping off point in North America for its trans-Pacific flights.
The Airline believes Seattle is that place and is expected to increase its presence to the tune of 18% of all seats out of the airport.
Major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago will see less of a price shift. Flights out of New York and Chicago will see prices fall by 1.7 and 1.9% respectively. However, flights out of LA will see prices jump 1.3%.
Here's the complete chart from Expedia and ARC:
