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BTS Releases October Airline Traffic Data; October 2003 Domestic Traffic Up 2.4 Percent From October 2002

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Contact BTS 02-04 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, February 12, 2004 - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported, in a release of preliminary data, that U.S. airlines carried 49.5 million domestic passengers in October, 2.4 percent more than in October 2002 (Table 1).

These passengers were carried on 852,544 flights, down 3.8 percent from the flights operated in October 2002.

In other domestic comparisons from October 2002 to October 2003:
Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 5.4 percent.
Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 0.2 percent.
Load factor, a measure of how many seats are sold and used, was up 3.6 percentage points.
Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance, was up 4.4 percent.
Passenger trip length, the average distance passengers travel, was up 3.1 percent.

Commuter and small certificated carriers began reporting traffic data in October 2002, providing the first complete picture of monthly airline travel.  BTS is making comparisons only for the months since October 2002 since earlier numbers are not comparable (Table 2).

Among airlines, Delta Airlines carried 6.7 million domestic passengers in October, the most of any airline (Table 3).

Among airports, Hartsfield International in Atlanta continued in October to be the busiest domestic airport, with 3.2 million passenger boardings (Table 4).

Table 1. Domestic Airline Travel in October

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

Table 2. Total Industry Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

* Comparable numbers are not available for earlier months. 

Additional airline traffic data can be found on the BTS website at TranStats, the Intermodal Transportation Database at http://transtats.bts.gov.  Click on “aviation”, then on “Air Carrier Statistics (Form 41 Traffic)”, then click on “T-100 Domestic Market.”           

Table 3. Top 10 Airlines, ranked by October 2003 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

Table 4. Top 10 Airports ranked by October 2003 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by commercial air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic.  October 2003 traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS from 102 airlines as of Feb. 10.  Data are subject to revision.

Revised data from September and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov.  BTS will release November traffic on Feb. 26.