2024 in Flight

GOALS FOR 2024

I had no flight goals for 2024!

YEAR-OVER-YEAR TRENDS

 

40,024 miles flown in 2024, measured as great-circle distances in statute miles. 1% decrease over 2023; 19% increase over 2022.

 

48 segments flown in 2024 (a new record!). 20% increase over 2023; 50% increase over 2022.

 

$7,695.95 in airfare paid in 2024, which considers the actual amounts charged to my cards, inclusive of airline credits, miles used, taxes, and fees. 7% increase over 2023; 52% increase over 2022.

At the outset of 2024, I received a huge voucher from Alaska to give up my seat due to overbooking. This was in the midst of their 737 MAX 9 grounding crisis, when they were obviously short on fleet. I scored $1,500 in Alaska credit to take a flight operated by United that departed only 30 minutes later. I used up this credit in 2024, decreasing my leisure spending from what it would have been, and taking flights I perhaps may not have otherwise taken,

 

 

 

 

MORE ON MILES

 

 

I have not flown on a wide-body since 2021.

 

 

MORE ON MONEY

 

I broke the threshold of $1/mile. Yay? Honestly, I should have just taken Amtrak, but I had that trip booked before I realized that EWR to DCA is only 199 miles.

Also, my leisure minimum and average are so low because of the $1,500 credit I received. There were perhaps four itineraries for which I paid $0. The "free" itinerary with the most miles was the one-way BOS-SFO listed here.

Interestingly, all the itineraries listed here are one-ways. Technically, the DCA-SFO minimum business itinerary should be roundtrip, but I did not fly the return segment on Alaska. That return segment was what I gave up to fly United half an hour later in exchange for $1,500 in credit.

 

"Lead time" is defined as how many days in advance of departure the ticket was purchased.

 

The 0-day business lead time purchase was during the week when I was on standby for jury duty. I did not know until 4:30 PM in the afternoon whether I would be required to report the following day. As soon as I found out I did not, I booked a flight for that evening in order to make a client meeting the following morning.

 

A loosely concave relationship. It is interesting that my business and leisure itineraries are almost completely distinct in terms of days lead time.

 

 

 

 

MORE ON WHERE

 

 

 

A "visit" is defined as a segment either originating or terminating at a given airport. Therefore, connections grant two visits to the connecting airport. The size of the font is directly proportional to the number of visits.

 

This year, the airport names are loosely organized by geographical location, to the extent possible given divergent font sizes.

I suppose the only commercial service Southern California airport I did not hit in 2024 was LGB, which is rather ironic given that I went to LGB for a work meeting in January.

I suppose it is a surprise how much I have flown to and from LAX, not only in the last five years, but also in 2024 alone.

 

 

These represent both originating and terminating mode shares combined. Each color of bars sums to 100%.

"POV" also includes cases when I was picked up from or dropped off at the airport in another person's rental car. "Rental car" implies that I transited through the airport's rental car facilities, even if I walked or took a bus from the rental car center to the terminal. "Walk" may times covers cases where I am at a client site.

WHILE IN FLIGHT

 

 

This is a new chart this year! I'm thinking about what kinds of data are most useful for me when I put my terminal planner hat on. This is the level of fidelity we want for analyzing check-in requirements.

This year, I eliminated the "Segments Flown per Day of Week" chart. It is less interesting than the "Miles Flown per Day of Week" data.

 

 

A "pushback pause" is defined as the time when the aircraft is stationary after being pushed back from the gate. Specifically, it begins when the aircraft stops moving backward and the tug begins detaching, and it ends when the aircraft begins moving forward on its own power. Collecting these data were the reason I began a flight log at all. I sought to collect data around this specific statistic for use in simulation modeling.

 

 

Anecdotally, it seems as though pushback pauses are getting longer. I experienced several in 2024 that exceeded three and a half minutes. This conjecture will require further monitoring and analysis.

 

 

Astonishingly, two airframes made return appearances in 2024 alone. Also, N296AK made another appearance. This is the only airframe I know of having flown four times.

 

 

 

RECORDS

 

 

For some reason, I didn't track this one before this year. But given that I set a record this year, it did seem appropriate to track.

Unchanged from last year.

 

 

Also unchanged from last year. 

This statistic speaks to how well distributed air travel is throughout the year.

At 199 miles, EWR-DCA, which I flew in 2024, just barely did not make the list of shortest segments.

The long Alaska pushback pause recorded in 2024 was perhaps due in part to Donald Trump's rally held at Madison Square Garden earlier that evening. He was departing around the same time we were, so the New York airspace had to be shut down for security. It created a night mare on the ground at EWR. There may have been upwards of 40 aircraft in the departure queue held up by the temporary airspace closure.

This year, I eliminated the "Most Expensive and Cheapest Full-Fare Single Tickets Since 2016" because...why does this need to be tracked?

Okay, there's a lot of discussion to be had on these.

First of all, I could no longer ignore the impacts on inflation skewing these statistics. I have now introduced nominal versus real cost per mile flown, the latter normalized to 2016 U.S. dollars. However, even with this normalization, three of the four highest nominal cost per mile itineraries still make the list. 2024 was an expensive year!

But...2024 was also a year of great savings! As mentioned previously, I obtained a $1,500 Alaska Airlines credit. The four lowest cost-per-mile itineraries, shared among the nominal and real rankings, are direct uses of that credit.

This year included the specification of miles by operating carrier, the introduction of segments by operating carrier, and the separation of spend per marketing carrier both in nominal and real dollars. Southwest Airlines is definitively not a low-cost airline, if low-cost is intended to refer to the consumer's perspective. On average, each of my 14 Southwest segments cost me over $217 apiece, and 13 of these were between OAK and ONT.

OAK and ONT over the last three years have become staple airports for me.

 

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2024

First time flying...

• ...on these aircraft types: A220-300, CRJ-550
  
• ...with these operating carriers: Air Canada Jazz, Endeavor, Republic, Flair, Westjet, Gojet
  
• ...to/from these U.S. states: Maine, Utah
  
• ...to/from these airports: LGA, PWM, SLC
  

First time voluntarily giving up a seat for a flight credit! On January 13, I was supposed to fly DCA-SFO on Alaska. However, this was just over a week after their 737 MAX 9s had all been grounded for inspection. Thus, they were still figuring out how to make their scheduled network function by cancelling flights and consolidating flights. While previously somewhat empty, my flight became oversold, likely as a result of cancelling an IAD departure. They offered $1,500 for two volunteers to take the United flight which departed 30 minutes later. I jumped at the opportunity; with that offer, I would have even considered staying overnight. While I did give up my upgrade to first class, it was well worth the reward.

I am still kicking myself for not acting fast enough to claim the $2,200 credit that Delta was offering for giving up a seat on YUL-LGA. I was the third volunteer when two were needed.

First time flying one of those low-cost carriers that actually makes you measure your carry-on bag before you get your boarding pass. I took advantage of Flair's ridiculously low one-way SFO-YVR fare just for fun. I was unable to get my boarding pass online. Because I had purchased the most basic fare class, they required a check-in staff member to verify that my personal item was indeed sized as a personal item before I could enter the check-in line to get my boarding pass. It was a dehumanizing experience shoving my backpack, stuffed tightly with all my accoutrements, into a metal frame. The agent allowed me to remove my water bottle and laptop, the latter likely for liability reasons. After this experience, I suddenly understood why the check-in lines at Spirit and Frontier counters were always so long; obtaining a boarding pass is conditional on this verification step.

My return flight was on Westjet. I purchased their basic economy fare since I wouldn't have brought a carry-on up with me anyway. I was never subject to a similar sizing exercise, and I even got a snack and a beverage in-flight. Because Westjet is a real airline.

This year was a year of delays. Owing primarily to the SFO runway closure for taxiway construction work, many of my flights that involved SFO as origin or destination were delayed by one hour or more.

Breeze Airways is not a real airline. I flew SFO-SBD for a work trip at ONT simply to avoid flying OAK-ONT on Southwest yet again. When I submitted my email confirmation for reimbursement, my company auditor requested a "proper airline ticket" for a receipt; i.e., one that included the ticket number. I called Breeze's listed customer support phone number. An automated voice told me, "to keep fares low, please use our chat feature..." I began text chatting with what was clearly an AI, because it did not understand what I was asking for. Eventually, I got what seemed to be a real human on the chat line. After much back-and-forth, I was informed, "We do not have ticket numbers." "How do you track your flight reservations in your reservation system, then?" I replied back, to which I did not get an answer. Breeze is not a real airline.

The airside of Terminal C at EWR is the only redeemable quality of that airport. The airfield is a mess, Terminal B is a shithole, Terminal C curbs are a disaster. Perhaps Terminal A is nice.

Still no diversions or go-arounds.