Summer at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is shaping up to be hotter than the Arizona sun, courtesy of American Airlines. Typically a slow season for the desert hub due to sizzling temperatures, this year it's set for a bumper crop of passengers. American Airlines, the top dog at Sky Harbor, is bracing for its busiest summer since the pre-pandemic days, as reported by ABC15.

The airline's enthusiasm is flying high, with an expectation to service a whopping 3 million passengers over the course of more than 26,000 summer departures. "We're actually going to see more customers than we had last summer," Sophia Philis-Ortiz, American’s VP of hub operations at Sky Harbor, told the Business Journal. Even though the heat usually sends tourists packing, America's Phoenix summer is looking to outshine the previous year with its ambitious flight schedule.

Philis-Ortiz also spilled the beans on the peak travel date: July 7 is marked on the calendar as the busiest for American Airlines at Sky Harbor, with an impressive roster of 239 scheduled departures. It's not just the sweltering Sundays that will see jets jam-packed; the whole summer is prepping for takeoff as the carrier plans to fly more seats across its network than any previous summer on record, a rise that stands tall with a 10% increase in departures over last year, as detailed by the Phoenix Business Journal.

Reflecting on the first quarter of 2024, Americans already clocked a 7.3% passenger count increase over the same period in the prior year, amounting to 5.3 million total passengers at Sky Harbor. Boosting its itinerary, American has unleashed 10 new destinations into its network, among which Phoenix has clinched exclusive routes to Pasco, Washington, and Tijuana, Mexico. "We did have a great winter operation," Philis-Ortiz said, to the Business Journal, hopeful that the summer would follow with similar success.

Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines, the fierce rival of American at Sky Harbor, isn't exactly napping in the shade. The competitor has also been making significant gains in passenger traffic so far this year. With the skies over Phoenix set to buzz with heightened activity, travelers better start bracing for a summer sizzle that goes beyond thermometers.