U.S. Air Travel Grows Slowly; Airlines Stay Profitable
The FAA predicts U.S. passenger growth will average 2.2 percent annually over the next 20 years. (Photo: Bill Carey)
The FAA predicts U.S. passenger growth will average 2.2 percent annually over the next 20 years. (Photo: Bill Carey)

The demand for air travel in the U.S. grew slowly in 2013, a year that started “with a good deal of uncertainty that never really let up,” the Federal Aviation Administration states in its latest 20-year aerospace forecast. Nevertheless, the U.S. airline industry posted a fourth straight year of profits, thanks to changes it implemented after the 2008 global recession. The biggest change is that airlines have shifted from efforts to increase their market share to improving shareholder returns, the FAA said.