Global passenger demand, measured in RPKs, increased by 14% year on year in March, the industry body says, while ASKs were up 12% resulting in global load factor notching up one percentage point to 82%. International demand rose 19%, which was matched by capacity, leaving loads flat at 82%. Meanwhile, domestic demand grew by 6.6% and ASKs by 3.4%, pushing load factor up 2.5 points to 82.6%. "Demand for travel is strong. And there is every indication that this should continue into the peak Northern Summer travel season," IATA's director general Willie Walsh says. "It is critical that we have the capacity to meet this demand and ensure a hassle-free travel experience for passengers. That means making urgent progress to resolve supply chain issues and for airports and air traffic management to be fully staffed and operating at maximum efficiency." Taking aim at supply chain and airspace constraints, Walsh adds that airlines "are fed-up of bearing the cost when delays and cancellations are the result of poor preparation in other parts of the value chain". By region, traffic growth was strongest in Asia-Pacific with RPKs up 38.5%, compared to capacity growth of 37.4%, pushing load factor up marginally to 85.6%. Despite the growth, IATA notes that China-North America flights are still only 16.5% of pre-pandemic levels as flight numbers between the USA and China are limited to 50 per week on each side. European carriers' traffic was up 11.6%, with ASKs up 11.4%, resulting in a minor increase in load factor to 79.9%. Middle Eastern airlines' RPKs rose 11% on ASK growth of 13.9%, causing load factor to contract 2.1 points to 77.5%. Latin American carriers reported a small rise in load factor to 84.3% as RPK growth of 19.7% overtook capacity growth of 18.3%. North American carriers increased capacity 14.8%, which was slightly ahead of a 14.5% rise in demand, which caused a minor fall in load factor to 84.7%. African airlines saw an 8.1% traffic increase while capacity was up 11%, pushing load factor down 1.9 points to 70.3%.

Delta Air Lines has appointed executives Maria Black and Willie Chiang to its board. Black is the president and chief executive of Automatic Data Processing (ADP), a global technology company providing human capital management solutions, the carrier says. Before becoming president and chief executive of ADP in January 2023, Black served in various positions of increasing responsibility across the entirety of ADP's global portfolio since joining the company in 1996. She currently serves on the board of directors of ADP. Chiang is the chairman and chief executive of Plains All American Pipeline, a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and provides logistics services for crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas. Chiang served in various leadership roles within Plains All American Pipeline and its general partner holding company Plains GP Holdings since his arrival in the company in 2015. He previously held executive roles at Occidental Petroleum Corporation and ConocoPhillips. Non-executive chair of the board David Taylor says the pair will "contribute valuable expertise to our work, enhancing the depth and range of Delta's already strong, independent and diverse board of directors."

Southwest Airlines has extended its flight schedule through 5 March 2025. The move is to allow travellers "to plan and book travel well into the new year", the airline says. "For the first time in its history, Southwest Airlines is offering an industry-standard time horizon in its bookable flight schedule, offering 300+ days of travel as part of a strategic shift to further align with travelers' expectations," it says. Southwest historically has extended its booking window by 180 to 250 days. Brook Sorem, vice-president of network planning, says the move is a "direct answer" to its loyalty programme members asking for more time to plan vacations and other leisure travel, as well as to help Southwest business customers who plan large events months in advance coordinate hotel and flight bookings. "We also are addressing a growing demand for longer-term leisure travel planning into places like Hawaii and to our international destinations," Sorem adds.