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Decline in Airline Passengers in 2001
Ends 10-Year Growth, BTS Year-end Report Shows
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BTS 11-02
David Smallen
202-366-5568
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Friday, May 24, 2002 -- Fewer airline passengers traveled on U.S. airlines in 2001 than in 2000, the first annual decline in a decade, according to the year-end report on aviation traffic from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
The number of passengers had increased every year since 1991. The number of U.S airline flights, which also declined last year, had grown every year since 1997. The decline in traffic was caused by the events of Sept. 11. Through August, enplanements were up very slightly, but for the remaining four months there were 20 percent fewer passengers than in 2000.
In 2001, 622 million passengers boarded 8.8 million U.S. airline flights, down from 666 million passengers on 9 million flights in 2000.
While passenger enplanements were down 6.6 percent and flights were down 2.7 percent from 2000, freight revenue ton-miles were off more than 7 per cent. International freight was down 7.8 percent.
The major airlines -- those with annual operating revenues of $1 billion or more -- reported an overall decline in passengers of 7.4 percent during 2001. American Trans Air reported the biggest increase, almost 10 percent, while only two other major airlines, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines, reported a rise in passengers. The biggest drops were reported by United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, both of which carried 10 percent fewer passengers in 2001 than in 2000.
The Air Carrier Traffic Statistics report for December 2001 contains year-end statistics for 2001 and 2000. The BTS Office of Airline Information collected the information in Air Carrier Traffic Statistics from 15 major air carriers, 39 nationals, 20 large regionals, and 23 medium regionals. No information from small regionals or commuter carriers is included. Air Carrier Traffic Statistics also includes detailed traffic statistics for each of the reporting airlines. National carriers are those with $100 million to $1 billion in annual operating revenues, large regionals those with $20 million to $100 million, and medium regionals those with under $20 million.
Additional information may be found in the attached tables or at the BTS website at www.bts.gov/oai.
Monthly issues of Air Carrier Traffic Statistics are available from BTS for $50 each. An annual subscription can be obtained for $450. To obtain copies, send checks payable to "BTS" to:
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
400 Seventh St. SW, Room 7412
Washington, D.C. 20590
Attn: Customer Services, K-15
Air Carrier Traffic Statistics may also be obtained by calling 202-366-3282 (press 1).
| Total Aircraft Revenue Flights |
9,035,168 |
8,789,123 |
-2.7 |
| Domestic Aircraft Revenue Flights |
8,490,506 |
8,238,496 |
-3.0 |
| International Aircraft Revenue Flights |
544,662 |
550,627 |
1.1 |
| Total Passenger Enplanements |
666,150,000 |
622,130,000 |
-6.6 |
| Domestic Passenger Enplanements |
610,600,000 |
570,127,000 |
-6.6 |
| International Passenger Enplanements |
55,550,000 |
52,003,000 |
-6.4 |
| Total Revenue Passenger-Miles |
692,757,241,000 |
651,662,534,000 |
-5.9 |
| Domestic Revenue Passenger-Miles |
508,402,855,000 |
480,312,514,000 |
-5.5 |
| International Revenue Passenger-Miles |
184,354,386,000 |
171,350,020,000 |
-7.1 |
| Total Freight Revenue Ton-Miles (all services) |
101,756,635,000 |
94,377,089,000 |
-7.3 |
| Domestic Freight Revenue Ton-Miles |
66,595,204,000 |
61,945,030,000 |
-7.0 |
| International Freight Revenue Ton-Miles |
35,161,431,000 |
32,432,059,000 |
-7.8 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Traffic Statistics Monthly, December 2001/2000
Air Traffic Since 1990
| 1990 |
465,557 |
6,923,593 |
16,403,524 |
| 1991 |
452,210 |
6,782,782 |
16,149,708 |
| 1992 |
473,305 |
7,050,633 |
17,306,619 |
| 1993 |
487,249 |
7,245,395 |
19,082,941 |
| 1994 |
528,376 |
7,531,026 |
21,772,967 |
| 1995 |
547,384 |
8,061,521 |
23,374,677 |
| 1996 |
581,201 |
8,230,322 |
24,892,479 |
| 1997 |
598,895 |
8,126,936 |
27,610,097 |
| 1998 |
612,885 |
8,308,620 |
28,015,071 |
| 1999 |
635,402 |
8,616,167 |
25,147,844 |
| 2000 |
665,513 |
8,991,681 |
30,221,261 |
| 2001 |
622,130 |
8,789,123 |
27,881,623 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information
Major Airline Passenger Traffic 2000-2001
| Total |
587,922 |
544,003 |
-7.4 |
| American Trans |
5,928 |
6,515 |
9.9 |
| Southwest |
72,568 |
73,629 |
1.5 |
| Alaska |
13,512 |
13,639 |
0.9 |
| American Eagle |
12,176 |
11,984 |
-1.6 |
| America West |
19,942 |
19,578 |
-1.8 |
| US Airways |
56,105 |
59,772 |
-6.1 |
| Continental |
45,139 |
42,357 |
-6.2 |
| Northwest |
56,835 |
52,271 |
-8.0 |
| American |
86,240 |
78,019 |
-9.5 |
| United |
83,854 |
75,138 |
-10.4 |
| Delta |
105,591 |
94,045 |
-10.9 |
| TWA (Trans World) |
26,365 |
20,723 |
-21.2 |
Major Airline: Carrier with Annual Operating Revenues of $1 billion or more
TWA's enplanement numbers may reflect changes resulting from its acquisition by American Airlines. TWA ceased operating in December 2001.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Traffic Statistics Monthly, December 2001/2000
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