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BTS Releases August Airline Traffic Data; Eight Month Domestic Traffic Down (7.1) Percent from Pre-Sept. 11, 2001
Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 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 7.1 percent fewer domestic passengers during the first eight months of 2003 than in the comparable period in 2001 based on a year-to-year comparison of the airlines that reported traffic data in both years (Table 1). Traffic was up 1.3 percent for the Continuously Reporting Carriers - the airlines operating large aircraft that were required to report traffic data before October 2002 - during the first eight months of 2003 from the same period in 2002, when it was down sharply from 2001, the pre-Sept. 11 period (Table 1). Commuter and small certificated carriers began reporting traffic data in October 2002. U.S. airlines carried 1.3 percent more domestic passengers in August 2003 than in August 2002, based on a year-to-year comparison of the airlines that reported traffic data in both months ― the Continuously Reporting Carriers of Tables 1 and 2A. All reporting U.S. airlines carried 54.2 million domestic passengers in August (Table 2). This number includes 51.9 million domestic passengers on Continuously Reporting Carriers and 2.3 million domestic passengers from the collection of commuter and small certificated carriers that began reporting in October 2002 (Table 2A). Total domestic enplanements fell 3.3 percent in August 2003 from July 2003 for all domestic flights operated by U.S. airlines. (Table 2A). Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal factors. BTS is releasing separate numbers for the Continuously Reporting Carriers and the new group of reporting carriers to allow year-to-year comparisons with comparable data. Among airlines, Delta Air Lines reported the largest number of domestic enplanements in August 2003 - 7.0 million. (Table 3). In addition to Southwest, for the first time, a second low cost carrier, AirTran Airways, is listed as one of the Top 10 carriers in the domestic enplanement rankings, replacing American Eagle Airlines. These data do not include traffic of the major carriers' code-share affiliates (Table 3). Among airports, Hartsfield International in Atlanta continued in August to be the busiest domestic airport, with 3.2 million passenger boardings (Table 4). Also, for the first time in 2003 Seattle-Tacoma International Airport qualified for the Top 10 airports. Table 4 includes the domestic enplanements for all reporting carriers, and not just the 'Continuously Reporting Carriers'. Table 1: Domestic Enplanements for Continuously Reporting Carriers
Source: T-100 Domestic Market Table 2. Total Industry Domestic Enplanements
Source: T-100 Domestic Market Table 2A: Domestic Enplanements for New and Continuously Reporting Carriers
Source: T-100 Domestic Market 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 August 2003 Domestic Enplanements
Source: T-100 Domestic Market Table 4. Top 10 Airports ranked by August 2003 Domestic Enplanements
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. August 2003 traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS as of Dec. 9. Data are subject to revision. Revised data from July and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov. BTS will release September traffic in January. |
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