Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
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Table 4-8: Certificated Air Carrier Fuel Consumption and Travela

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Number of aircraft 2,135 2,125 2,679 2,495 3,808 4,678 6,083 6,054 7,320 7,297 7,370 7,411 7,478 7,616 8,111 8,228 8,055 8,497 8,194 8,176 U
Average miles flown per aircraft (thousands) 487 667 949 932 768 740 776 770 669 701 727 759 783 791 768 797 862 802 835 899 U
Aircraft-miles (millions)                                          
Domestic operations 858 1,134 2,068 1,948 2,523 3,046 3,963 3,854 3,995 4,157 4,380 4,629 4,811 4,911 5,035 5,332 5,664 5,548 5,616 6,085 6,552
International operations 182 284 475 377 401 415 760 807 904 961 980 998 1,043 1,114 1,192 1,225 1,282 1,266 1,225 (R) 1,262 1,384
Fuel consumption (million gallons)                                          
Domestic operations 1,954 3,889 7,857 7,558 8,519 10,115 (R) 12,323 11,506 11,763 11,959 (R) 12,384 (R) 12,672 (R) 13,217 (R) 13,563 (R) 13,335 14,402 14,845 14,017 12,848 12,959 13,623
International operations 566 1,280 2,243 1,949 1,747 2,488 (R) 3,909 3,940 4,120 4,113 (R) 4,279 (R) 4,443 (R) 4,618 (R) 4,915 (R) 4,923 5,250 5,475 5,237 4,991 4,836 4,931
Aircraft-miles flown per gallon                                          
Domestic operations 0.44 0.29 0.26 0.26 0.30 0.30 (R) 0.32 0.33 0.34 0.35 (R) 0.35 (R) 0.37 (R) 0.36 (R) 0.36 (R) 0.38 0.37 0.38 0.40 0.44 0.47 0.48
International operations 0.32 0.22 0.21 0.19 0.23 0.17 (R) 0.19 0.20 0.22 0.23 (R) 0.23 (R) 0.22 (R) 0.23 (R) 0.23 (R) 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.24 0.25 (R) 0.26 0.28

KEY: R = revised; U = data are unavailable.

a Aircraft operating under 14 CFR 121 and 14 CFR 135.

SOURCES

Number of aircraft:

1960-65: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, 1970 edition (Washington, DC: 1970), table 5.3.

1970-75: Ibid., FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, Calendar Year 1979 (Washington, DC: 1979), table 5.1.

1980-85: Ibid., FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, Calendar Year 1986 (Washington, DC: 1986), table 5.1.

1990-97: Ibid., FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, Calendar Year 1997 (Washington, DC: unpublished), personal communication, Mar. 19, 1999.

1998-2003: Aerospace Industries Association, Aerospace Facts and Figures (Washington DC: Annual Issues), "Active U.S. Air Carrier Fleet", p. 90 and similar pages in earlier editions.

Aircraft-miles flown:

1960: Civil Aeronautics Board, Handbook of Airline Statistics 1969 (Washington, DC: 1970), part III, tables 2 and 13.

1965-70: Ibid., Handbook of Airline Statistics 1973 (Washington, DC: 1974), part III, tables 2 and 13.

1975-80: Ibid., Air Carrier Traffic Statistics (Washington, DC: December 1976), pp. 4 and 14; and (December 1981), pp. 2 and 3.

1985-2001: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Traffic Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues, December), pp. 2 and 3, line 27 plus line 50.

2002-04: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Traffic Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues, December), pp. 3 and 4, line 25 plus line 46.

Fuel consumption:

1960-70: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Internet site http://www.bts.gov/programs/oai/fuel/fuelyearly.html as of June 25, 2004.

1980-2004: Ibid., Internet site http://www.bts.gov/xml/fuel/report/src/index.xml as of Apr. 28, 2005.