February Airline Traffic: Two-Month Domestic Traffic Up 0.6 Percent From 2005

PDF

Contact BTS 23-06 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, May 11, 2006 - U.S. airlines carried 0.6 percent more domestic passengers and flew fewer domestic flights during the first two months of 2006 than they did during the same period in 2005, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported, in a release of preliminary data (Table 1).

BTS, a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported that the airlines carried 96.2 million domestic passengers during the first two months of 2006, up from the 95.6 million carried in January and February 2005 (Table 2). The passengers were carried on 1.52 million flights, fewer than the 1.58 million flights operated in 2005 (Table 1).

In other domestic comparisons from the first two months of 2005 to the first two months of 2006:

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 2.1 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the distance flown, were down 2.8 percent.

Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 3.6 load factor points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 0.7 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 1.4 percent.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 13.7 million domestic passengers during the first two months of 2006, the most of any airline (Table 3).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during the first two months of 2006, with 5.5 million passenger boardings (Table 4).

February 2006 Airline Traffic

For the month of February, U.S. airlines carried 47.6 million domestic passengers, 0.6 percent more than in February 2005 (Table 5).

These passengers were carried on 748,069 flights, down 2.3 percent from the 765,917 flights operated in February 2005.

In other month-to-month domestic comparisons from February 2005 to February 2006:

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 1.7 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were down 4.2 percent.

Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 4.4 load factor points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was down 1.2 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 1.2
 percent.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 6.8 million domestic passengers during February, the most of any airline (Table 6).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel in February with 2.7 million passenger boardings (Table 7).

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.”

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic.  February traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS from 128 airlines as of May 9. Data are subject to revision.

Revised data from January and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov.  BTS will release March traffic data and revised data from February and previous months on June 15.

Table 1. Domestic Airline Travel January to February

Excel | CSV

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

* The average non-stop distance flown per departure in miles

** The average distance flown per passenger in miles

Table 2. Total Industry Domestic Enplanements

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Excel | CSV

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 3. Top 10 Airlines, ranked by January-February 2006 Domestic Enplanements

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Excel | CSV

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 4. Top 10 Airports ranked by January-February 2006 Domestic Enplanements

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Excel | CSV

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 5. Domestic Airline Travel in February

Excel | CSV

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

* The average non-stop distance flown per departure in miles

** The average distance flown per passenger in miles

Table 6. Top 10 Airlines, ranked by February 2006 Domestic Enplanements

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Excel | CSV

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 7. Top 10 Airports ranked by February 2006 Domestic Enplanements

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Excel | CSV

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market