BTS | Table 1-34: U.S. Air Carrier Aircraft Departures, Enplaned Revenue Passengers, and Enplaned Revenue Tons

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Table 1-34: U.S. Air Carrier Aircraft Departures, Enplaned Revenue Passengers, and Enplaned Revenue Tons

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	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	(R) 2000	(R) 2001	2002	2003
AIRCRAFT DEPARTURES
Total performed^a	4,555,516	5,156,848	5,505,659	6,641,681	8,030,530	8,957,993	8,576,964	8,224,121	8,804,262
Total scheduled	4,530,535	5,204,564	5,591,596	6,758,571	7,920,467	8,680,059	8,367,753	8,163,234	8,719,284
Large hubs
Performed	2,437,958	2,887,239	3,439,446	4,167,868	5,162,534	5,747,367	5,087,765	5,358,697	5,078,548
Scheduled	2,409,874	2,905,923	3,487,660	4,237,466	5,147,875	5,578,593	5,012,524	5,308,166	5,077,665
Medium hubs
Performed	902,652	1,048,726	1,185,008	1,394,833	1,439,639	1,713,370	1,990,393	1,498,772	1,924,962
Scheduled	899,543	1,058,438	1,201,540	1,417,762	1,387,833	1,645,385	1,897,953	1,490,040	1,901,540
Small hubs
Performed	640,589	598,559	514,176	669,450	738,231	780,396	815,700	747,715	1,015,831
Scheduled	644,133	608,738	524,048	679,103	711,947	761,263	796,472	777,324	983,410
Nonhubs
Performed	574,317	622,324	367,029	409,530	690,126	716,860	683,106	618,937	784,921
Scheduled	576,985	631,465	378,348	424,240	672,812	694,818	660,804	587,704	756,669
ENPLANED REVENUE PASSENGERS^b	196,782,144	281,408,852	363,341,497	438,544,001	526,055,483	639,446,947	595,972,862	577,422,530	595,149,842
Large hubs	133,975,900	197,679,376	264,507,144	317,595,099	392,601,890	467,620,242	403,616,740	426,962,279	400,638,780
Medium hubs	36,539,613	51,664,627	65,770,376	80,466,373	85,929,285	113,405,037	133,153,039	97,578,535	126,876,982
Small hubs	19,406,607	23,393,324	24,240,726	30,771,383	33,561,098	40,389,121	40,692,711	37,713,263	49,025,098
Nonhubs	6,860,024	8,671,525	8,823,251	9,711,146	13,963,210	18,032,547	18,510,372	15,168,453	18,608,982
ENPLANED REVENUE TONS ^c	3,661,061	5,088,313	4,024,470	6,298,824	9,365,017	15,059,539	17,514,903	13,335,026	13,849,146
Freight, total	2,764,763	3,562,187	2,601,027	4,732,726	7,204,479	12,731,046	15,806,017	12,697,666	13,006,815
Large hubs	2,265,665	3,008,311	2,047,988	3,001,217	4,402,327	6,313,583	5,873,484	5,658,380	5,218,742
Medium hubs	358,044	414,325	469,057	1,446,744	1,950,318	4,795,686	6,802,985	5,380,734	4,132,885
Small hubs	99,133	73,795	48,127	191,358	541,062	954,430	2,236,951	931,033	2,521,107
Nonhubs	41,922	65,756	35,855	93,407	310,772	667,346	892,597	727,519	1,133,081
Mail, total	896,298	1,526,125	1,423,443	1,566,098	2,160,538	2,328,494	1,708,886	637,361	842,331
Large hubs	677,179	1,091,059	1,082,567	1,146,589	1,546,568	1,647,633	1,104,674	481,719	628,115
Medium hubs	151,498	255,929	268,179	292,899	442,814	532,461	434,875	120,937	121,195
Small hubs	48,486	148,116	59,917	108,656	136,008	108,869	128,431	23,253	79,404
Nonhubs	19,134	31,021	12,781	17,954	35,149	39,531	40,907	11,452	13,617

KEY: R = revised.

^a Total performed includes scheduled departures performed minus those scheduled departures that did not occur plus unscheduled service.

^b The number of persons receiving air transportation from an air carrier for which renumeration is received by the carrier, excluding persons receiving reduced rate charges, such as air carrier employees, infants, and others (except ministers of religion, elderly individuals, and handicapped individuals).

^c The number of short tons of freight transported by an air carrier aboard an aircraft.

NOTES

Data are for all scheduled and nonscheduled service by large certificated U.S. air carriers at all airports served within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. areas designated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Not all scheduled service is actually performed. Moreover, for several years, total performed departures exceed total scheduled departures because nonscheduled departures are included in the totals. Prior to 1993, all scheduled and some nonscheduled enplanements for certificated air carriers were included; no enplanements were included for air carriers offering charter service only. Prior to 1990, freight includes both freight and express shipments, and mail includes priority and nonpriority U.S. mail and foreign mail; beginning in 1990, only aggregate numbers are reported.

Large certificated air carriers operate aircraft with seating capacity of more than 60 seats or a maximum payload capacity of more than 18,000 pounds and hold Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation authorizing the performance of air transportation. Data for commuter, intrastate, and foreign-flag air carriers are not included.

Air traffic hubs are designated as geographical areas based on the percentage of total passengers enplaned in the area. A hub may have more than one airport in it. (This definition of hub should not be confused with the definition used by the airlines in describing their "hub-and-spoke" route structures) Individual communities fall into four hub classifications as determined by each community's percentage of total enplaned revenue passengers in all services and all operations of U.S. certificated route carriers within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. areas. Classifications are based on the percentage of total enplaned revenue passengers for each year according to the following: one percent or more = large, 0.25 to 0.9999 percent = medium, 0.05 to 0.249 percent = small, less than 0.05 = nonhub.

Data, include determination of airports' hub designations

SOURCE

1975-1999: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Airport Activity Statistics of Certified Route Air Carriers (Washington, DC: Annual issues), tables 2, 3, 4, and 5.

2000-2003: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Special Tabulation of data from the Office of Airline Information.