More than 39 million people will travel on U.S. airlines over the two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year Day, according to Airlines for America (A4A), an average of 2.8 million passengers per day. That’s a 16% increase over the holiday season last year. 

A4A expects the primary holiday surge to extend from Dec. 20 through Jan. 2. 

Last holiday season was marred by an unprecedented collapse by Southwest Airlines, which canceled 16,700 flights between Dec. 21 and Dec. 31 after flights were initially disrupted by a massive winter storm system. 

Southwest says it’s now more resilient, buoyed by investments in scheduling and crew assignment technology as well as by increased de-icing capacity and employee redundancy at key airports that deal with snow and ice.

A4A says that airlines more generally have prepared for this year’s holiday season by building industry staffing to the highest level in more than 20 years, investing in technology and adjusting schedules to prioritize operational performance. 

• Related: U.S. airlines manage busy Thanksgiving holiday without disruption

So far this year, U.S. airlines have cancelled 1.3% of scheduled flights, according to FlightAware, and 20.9% of flights have arrived at least 15 minutes behind schedule. 

For the same timeframe last year, U.S. carriers cancelled 2.2% of flights, while 20% were at least 15 minutes late.

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