Domestic flight levels are returning to 2019 levels at a quarter of the nation’s busiest airports, writes the staff at Philadelphia Business Journal.

The same is not true for Philadelphia International Airport, where flights are still down more than 31%, according to aviation analysis company Cirium.

For the first three months of this year, PHL had 24,600 flights, compared to 35,800 flights in the first quarter of 2019.

The nation’s 100 busiest airports saw 91% of its domestic 2019 total in the first quarter of 2022, but only 69% at PHL. 

There are still challenges especially regarding a shortage of pilots, as reported by United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby.

“While we are in a good position, for the smaller and mid-tier airlines, there just aren’t enough pilots to staff their growth aspirations,” Kirby said. “The other really large airlines will also probably be able to attract enough pilots. But for anyone else, I just don’t think it’s mathematically possible to meet the pilot demand for the capacity plans that are out there. You can already see the issues that are occurring at multiple, smaller and mid-tier airlines over pilot shortages.”

Read more at Philadelphia Business Journal about a return to 2019 domestic flight levels.