2004 Domestic Airline Traffic Data: Domestic Traffic Up 7.2 Percent From 2003

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Contact BTS 12-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, March 10, 2005 - U.S. airlines carried 7.2 percent more domestic passengers and flew 3.3 percent more domestic flights during 2004 than they did during 2003, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today, in a release of preliminary data (Table 1).

BTS, a part of DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the airlines carried 629.7 million domestic passengers during 2004, up from the 587.5 million in 2003 (Table 2). These passengers were carried on 9.9 million flights, up 3.3 percent from the 9.6 million flights operated in 2003 (Table 1).

In other domestic comparisons from 2003 to 2004:

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 9.9 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 7.3 percent.

Load factor, a measure of how many seats are sold and used, was up 1.8 percentage points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance, was up 4.1 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance passengers travel, was up 2.5 percent.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 81.1 million domestic passengers during 2004, the most of any airline (Table 3).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during 2004, with 37.7 million passenger boardings (Table 4).

December 2004 Airline Traffic

In December 2004, U.S. airlines carried 51.2 million domestic passengers, 2.2 percent more than in December 2003 (Table 5).

These passengers were carried on 779,680 flights, down 3.2 percent from the flights operated in December 2003.

In other month-to-month domestic comparisons from December 2003 to December 2004:

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 4.1 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 3.7 percent.

Load factor, a measure of how many seats are sold and used, was up 0.3 percentage points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance, was up 5.6 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance passengers travel, was up 1.8 percent.

The number of domestic airline passengers declined 0.5 percent in December from November (Table 2).  Month-to-month comparisons may be affected by seasonal factors.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 6.6 million domestic passengers during December, the most of any airline (Table 6).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during December, with 3.2 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 "Air Carrier Statistics (Form 41 Traffic)," then "T-100 Domestic Market."

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic.  December traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS from 116 airlines as of March 7.  Data are subject to revision.

Revised data from November 2004 and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov.  BTS will release January 2005 traffic data on April 14. 

Table 1: Domestic Airline Travel 2003-2004

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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

Table 3: Top 10 Airlines, ranked by 2004 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

Table 4: Top 10 Airports ranked by 2004 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

Table 5: Domestic Airline Travel in December

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, ranked by December 2004 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

Table 7: Top 10 Airports ranked by December 2004 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market