Top Air Travel Stories From 2023

The Travvy Awards returned for their ninth year in 2023, honoring the best airline industry suppliers based on the knowledge and experiences of those who know them best, travel advisors. While airlines faced triumphs and failures over the year, they were celebrated during the November ceremony.

With a crackdown from the U.S. government on airlines and other travel-related companies and the practice of hidden fees, legislation was proposed, rules were changed, and brands caught in the act faced lawsuits.

The United States Department of Justice sued to break up the Northeast Alliance deal between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways. District Judge Leo Sorokin from Boston ruled the carriers needed to end their partnership. American is still battling the decision.

After U.S. President Joe Biden called on the country's top airlines to eliminate family seating fees, the Department of Transportation (DOT) introduced a new family seating dashboard highlighting the carriers that guarantee family seating at no cost and reveals which carriers currently charge.

In March, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit to stop JetBlue Airways from buying Spirit Airlines, saying the planned merger would put travel out of reach for many cost-conscious travelers. The trial ended in December, with the judge saying fares would likely rise if the merger takes place and eliminates Spirit’s low-cost ticket offerings that have historically “undercut everyone else” and drove down prices.

Not only did the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) unveil several time-saving security measures in 2023, but the federal agency also set an American aviation record when it processed an all-time high number of passengers on November 26, at 2,907,378 people. Each major holiday meant another broken record, and the TSA PreCheck program also set a new record by surpassing 15 million active members.

In December, Alaska Air Group announced plans to acquire Hawaiian Holdings—which owns Hawaiian Airlines—for $1.9 billion, including around $900 million in debt. The two companies have already entered into a definitive agreement, under which Alaska will pay $18.00 per share as an all-cash transaction.

In June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued a series of proposed roadmaps designed to help steer the industry toward reaching net zero by 2050. The documents provides a step-by-step list of what the organization calls “critical actions and dependencies” that will be required if aviation is to meet its 2050 target for zero carbon emissions.

The U.S. government announced that Mexico’s aviation safety rating was again elevated to the highest level two years after being moved to Category 2. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that Mexican airlines would be permitted to add routes to the U.S., while carriers in America can once again sell tickets on Mexican airline-operated flights.

Southwest Airlines agreed to pay a record-setting $140 million civil penalty levied by the Department of Transportation over the December 2022 holiday meltdown associated with Winter Storm Elliott. The travel disruptions led to around 16,900 flight cancellations and stranded two million passengers during last year's busy winter holiday travel.

It was a banner year for airlines, as the transportation companies announced several expanded codeshare partnerships, including United Airlines and Air Canada, Delta Air Lines and LATAM Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Condor Airlines, and more.

In addition to plans to shorten screening times and the launch of self-service security screening prototypes, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published its Open Architecture (O.A.) Roadmap to help define the long-term strategy to enhance screening capabilities.

The U.S. Senate voted 98-0 to approve President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) administrator, Michael Whitaker. The new FAA head was endorsed unanimously by members of the Senate Commerce Committee. The government agency had been without a Senate-confirmed administrator since March 2022, when Stephen Dickson stepped down.

Mexico added another major travel hub with the opening of Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport in Tulum, Quintana Roo. With so many popular hotspots close to the facility, major airlines have already announced the debut of new routes in 2024.

An off-duty pilot in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight tried to shut off the engines by pulling fire extinguisher handles in October. While initially charged with 83 counts of attempted murder, he was arraigned on 83 state misdemeanor charges of recklessly endangering another person and one felony count of endangering an aircraft.