BTS Report Shows Most Passengers Fly Out of Large Hubs

Contact BTS 19-01 David Smallen 202-366-5568

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2001 -- Three out of four airline passengers flew out of airports in large hub communities in 2000, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

Airport Activity Statistics of Certificated Air Carriers: Summary Tables, an annual BTS report, shows that 75 percent of the 638 million domestic passenger enplanements on large certificated carriers in 2000 took place in large hub communities, 16 percent in medium hub communities and 6 percent in small hub communities.

"BTS collects and distributes this information to help produce more informed decisions," Dr. Ashish Sen, BTS director, said. "The summary of information provided in Airport Activity Statistics offers a useful overview of the aviation system."

Air traffic hubs are designated as geographic areas based on the percentage of total passengers enplaned in that 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.

Communities fall into four hub classifications based on each community’s percentage of total enplaned passengers for all operations of U.S. carriers in the United States. A large hub enplanes at least 1 percent of the total passengers, a medium hub 0.25 to 0.99 percent, a small hub 0.05 to 0.249 percent, and a nonhub less than 0.05 percent.

Airport Activity Statistics of Certificated Air Carriers summarizes 2000 passenger enplanements, flight departures and revenue tons of freight and mail by airline, by state, by hub and by airport within hubs. It includes information reported by large certificated airlines, those that operate aircraft with seating capacity of more than 60 seats or maximum payload capacity of more than 18,000 pounds. Data for commuter, intrastate, and foreign flag air carriers are not included in this publication.

The largest passenger hubs in 2000 were Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas/Ft. Worth. The largest freight hubs were Memphis, Los Angeles and Miami.

To order a copy of Airport Activity Statistics of Certificated Air Carriers: Summary Tables, Twelve Months Ending December 31, 2000, contact BTS by phone at (202) 366-DATA (press 1), by fax on (202) 366-3197, or by writing to Product Orders, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S.DOT, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Room 3430, Washington, DC 20590. The report is also available on the BTS website at www.bts.gov.