January 2009 Airline
Traffic Data: January 2009 System Traffic Down 10.9 Percent from January 2008
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BTS 17-09
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
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Thursday, April 16, 2009 - U.S. airlines carried 51.5 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in
January 2009, 10.9 percent less than they did in January 2008, 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, reported that the decline was the 11th
consecutive monthly decrease in system passengers from the same month of the
previous year (Table 2).
U.S. airlines carried 11.5 percent fewer domestic passengers and 7.2 percent fewer
international passengers in January 2009 than in January 2008 (Tables 5, 9). These passengers traveled on planes with average
load factors of 73.0 percent (Table 1).
Top Airlines in January
Southwest Airlines
carried more total system and domestic passengers in January 2009 than any
other airline (Tables 3, 7); and American Airlines carried more international
passengers (Table 11).
Top Airports in January
More total system and domestic
passengers boarded planes in January 2009 at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International
than at any other U.S. airport (Tables 4 and 8); more international passengers
boarded U.S. carriers at Miami International than at any other U.S. airport
(Table 12).
Flights Operated
U.S. carriers operated 769,500 domestic and international flights in January 2009, 11.2
percent fewer than in January 2008 (Table 1). Domestic flights were down 11.6 percent from January of the previous
year while international flights fell 7.5 percent (Tables 5, 9).
System Comparisons
(Tables 1-4)
In other total system comparisons
from January 2008 to January 2009 (Table 1):
Revenue
passenger miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance
flown, were down 9.9 percent in January 2009.
Available
seat-miles (ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and
the distance flown, were down 8.8 percent in January 2009.
Passenger
load factor, passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was down 0.9
load factor points at 73.0 percent in January 2009.
Flight stage length, the average
non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 0.4 percent in January 2009.
Passenger trip length, the average
distance flown per passenger, was up 1.1 percent in January 2009.
Among U.S. airlines, Southwest Airlines carried
7.0 million passengers on its system in January 2009, the most of any airline (Table
3).
Among airports, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
International was the busiest U.S. airport in January 2009, with 3.1 million domestic and international passenger boardings
on U. S. carriers (Table 4).
Domestic Air Travel
(Tables 5-8)
U.S. airlines carried 44.5 million scheduled domestic passengers in January 2009, down
11.5 percent from the 50.3 million carried in January 2008 (Table 6). The
passengers were carried on 702,200 flights, down 11.6 percent from the 794,200 flights
operated in January 2008 (Table 5).
In other domestic comparisons from January
2008 to January 2009 (Table 5):
Domestic revenue
passenger miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance
flown, were down 11.6 percent in January 2009.
Domestic available seat-miles
(ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the
distance flown, were down 11.5 percent in January 2009.
Domestic passenger load factor, passenger
miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was down 0.2 load factor points
to 72.8 percent in January 2009.
Domestic flight stage length, the
average non-stop distance flown per departure, was down 1.3 percent in January
2009.
Domestic passenger trip length, the
average distance flown per passenger, was down 0.1 percent in January 2009.
Southwest Airlines carried 7.0 million domestic passengers
in January 2009, the most of any airline (Table 7).
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
International was the busiest domestic airport in January 2009, with 2.8 million
domestic passenger boardings (Table 8).
International Air
Travel (Tables 9-12)
U.S. airlines carried 6.9 million scheduled international passengers in January 2009,
down 7.2 percent from the 7.5 million carried in January 2008 (Table 9). The
passengers were carried on 67,300 flights, down 7.5 percent from the 72,800 flights
operated in January 2008 (Table 9).
In other international comparisons
from January 2008 to January 2009 (Table 9):
International revenue passenger
miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown,
were down 6.2 percent in January 2009.
International available seat-miles
(ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the
distance flown, were down 2.1 percent in January 2009.
International passenger
load factor, passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was down
3.3 load factor points to 73.3 in January 2009.
International flight stage length, the average
non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 4.4 percent in January 2009.
International
passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger was up 1.1
percent in January 2009.
American Airlines
carried 1.6 million international passengers in January 2009, the most of any
U.S. airline (Table
11).
Miami International was the busiest
U.S. airport
for international travel on U.S. carriers
in January 2009, with 430,100 international passenger boardings (Table 12).
Reporting Notes
Data are compiled from monthly reports
filed with BTS by commercial
U.S. air
carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic. This
release includes data received by BTS from 82 carriers as of April 7 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations. Go to http://www.transtats.bts.gov/releaseinfo.asp for the
complete list of reporting and non-reporting carriers.
U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point
flights are included in system and
international totals. To create a customized table for passengers,
flights, RPMs, ASMs and other data, including non-scheduled service, go to http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/air_carrier_traffic_statistics/.
Additional traffic numbers can be found on the BTS website in the
Airline Industry box. Click on a link in
the column on the right.
Traffic numbers are also available at TranStats,
the Intermodal Transportation Database, at http://transtats.bts.gov. Click on "Aviation." For system passengers, RPMs and ASMs by
carrier through December, click on "Air Carrier Summary Data (Form 41 and 298C
Summary Data)," and then click on "Schedule T-1." Use crosstabs to find
scheduled service.
For domestic numbers through January and
international numbers through October by origin as well as by carrier, after
clicking on "Aviation," click on "Air Carrier Statistics (Form 41 Traffic)." Click on "T-100 Market" for system passenger
numbers, "T-100 Domestic Market" for domestic or "T-100 International Market"
for international. For flights, stage
length and trip length, use the appropriate T-100 Segment database. Use
crosstabs to find scheduled service.
TranStats system and international totals do not
include
U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point
flights. For January, U.S. carriers reported 248,926 foreign point-to-point
passengers.
Data are subject to revision. BTS has scheduled May 14 for the release of February
traffic data.
Table 1: Scheduled System (Domestic and International) Airline
Travel on
U.S. Carriers
Excel | CSV
Passengers (in millions) |
57.8 |
51.5 |
-10.9 |
769.6 |
741.4 |
-3.7 |
Flights (in thousands) |
867.0 |
769.5 |
-11.2 |
10,698.6 |
10,168.1 |
-5.0 |
Revenue Passenger Miles (in billions) |
63.5 |
57.2 |
-9.9 |
829.4 |
811.4 |
-2.2 |
Available Seat-Miles (in billions) |
85.9 |
78.4 |
-8.8 |
1,037.7 |
1,020.1 |
-1.7 |
Load Factor* |
73.9 |
73.0 |
-0.9 |
79.9 |
79.5 |
-0.4 |
Flight Stage Length** |
719.2 |
722.0 |
0.4 |
706.0 |
720.3 |
2.0 |
Passenger Trip Length*** |
1,099.9 |
1,111.8 |
1.1 |
1,077.7 |
1,094.4 |
1.6 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics,
T-100 Market and Segment
*Change in load factor points
**The average non-stop distance flown
per departure in miles
*** The average distance flown per
passenger in miles
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 2. Total System (Domestic and International) Scheduled Enplanements
on
U.S. Carriers
Passenger
numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
January |
57.1 |
57.8 |
1.1 |
51.5 |
-10.9 |
February |
54.1 |
56.6 |
4.6 |
|
|
March |
67.2 |
67.1 |
-0.1 |
|
|
April |
64.9 |
63.1 |
-2.8 |
|
|
May |
66.8 |
65.9 |
-1.3 |
|
|
June |
69.7 |
67.8 |
-2.7 |
|
|
July |
72.4 |
70.3 |
-2.9 |
|
|
August |
71.3 |
67.7 |
-5.1 |
|
|
September |
59.2 |
54.2 |
-8.4 |
|
|
October |
64.2 |
59.6 |
-7.1 |
|
|
November |
61.9 |
54.0 |
-12.8 |
|
|
December |
60.8 |
57.4 |
-5.7 |
|
|
1 Mo. Total |
57.1 |
57.8 |
1.1 |
51.5 |
-10.9 |
Yr. Total |
769.6 |
741.4 |
-3.7 |
|
|
Source: Bureau
of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 3. Top 10
U.S. Airlines,
ranked by January 2009 System* Scheduled Enplanements
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Southwest |
6.994 |
2 |
7.654 |
-8.6 |
2 |
American |
6.697 |
1 |
7.670 |
-12.7 |
3 |
Delta |
5.262 |
3 |
5.344 |
-1.5 |
4 |
United |
4.212 |
4 |
4.776 |
-11.8 |
5 |
US Airways |
4.048 |
5 |
4.317 |
-6.2 |
6 |
Continental |
3.249 |
7 |
3.731 |
-12.9 |
7 |
Northwest |
3.132 |
6 |
3.896 |
-19.6 |
8 |
AirTran |
1.667 |
9 |
1.630 |
2.2 |
9 |
JetBlue |
1.660 |
8 |
1.727 |
-3.9 |
10 |
SkyWest |
1.495 |
10 |
1.588 |
-5.8 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
* System equals domestic plus
international
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 4. Top 10 U.S. Airports ranked by
January 2009 System* Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Airlines
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlanta |
3.113 |
1 |
3.133 |
-0.6 |
2 |
Chicago O'Hare |
1.944 |
2 |
2.300 |
-15.5 |
3 |
Dallas/Ft. Worth |
1.932 |
3 |
2.133 |
-9.4 |
4 |
Denver |
1.701 |
4 |
1.804 |
-5.7 |
5 |
Los Angeles |
1.554 |
5 |
1.755 |
-11.4 |
6 |
Phoenix |
1.437 |
8 |
1.558 |
-7.8 |
7 |
Houston Bush |
1.398 |
7 |
1.572 |
-11.0 |
8 |
Las Vegas |
1.362 |
6 |
1.613 |
-15.5 |
9 |
Charlotte |
1.302 |
10 |
1.300 |
0.2 |
10 |
Orlando |
1.225 |
9 |
1.389 |
-11.8 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
* System equals domestic plus
international
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 5: Domestic Scheduled Airline Travel on
U.S. Carriers
Excel | CSV
Passengers (in millions) |
50.3 |
44.5 |
-11.5 |
679.2 |
649.9 |
-4.3 |
Flights (in thousands) |
794.2 |
702.2 |
-11.6 |
9,835.7 |
9,319.8 |
-5.2 |
Revenue Passenger Miles (in billions) |
44.3 |
39.1 |
-11.6 |
592.3 |
567.3 |
-4.2 |
Available Seat-Miles (in billions) |
60.7 |
53.7 |
-11.5 |
741.2 |
711.2 |
-4.1 |
Load Factor* |
73.0 |
72.8 |
-0.2 |
79.9 |
79.8 |
-0.1 |
Flight Stage Length** |
627.9 |
619.4 |
-1.3 |
618.5 |
623.4 |
0.8 |
Passenger Trip Length*** |
880.0 |
878.8 |
-0.1 |
872.1 |
873.0 |
0.1 |
Source:
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market and Segment
*Change in load factor points
**The average non-stop distance flown
per departure in miles
*** The average distance flown per
passenger in miles
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 6. Domestic Scheduled Enplanements on
U.S. Carriers
Passenger
numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
January |
50.0 |
50.3 |
0.5 |
44.5 |
-11.5 |
February |
47.8 |
49.6 |
3.9 |
|
|
March |
59.2 |
58.6 |
-1.1 |
|
|
April |
57.4 |
55.5 |
-3.3 |
|
|
May |
59.3 |
57.9 |
-2.3 |
|
|
June |
61.5 |
59.4 |
-3.4 |
|
|
July |
63.5 |
61.3 |
-3.4 |
|
|
August |
62.7 |
58.8 |
-6.1 |
|
|
September |
52.3 |
47.7 |
-8.9 |
|
|
October |
57.2 |
52.9 |
-7.5 |
|
|
November |
55.0 |
47.6 |
-13.5 |
|
|
December |
53.3 |
50.2 |
-5.7 |
|
|
1 Mo. Total |
50.0 |
50.3 |
0.5 |
44.5 |
-11.5 |
Yr. Total |
679.2 |
649.9 |
-4.3 |
|
|
Source: Bureau
of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 7. Top 10
U.S. Airlines,
ranked by January 2009 Domestic Scheduled Enplanements
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Southwest |
6.994 |
1 |
7.654 |
-8.6 |
2 |
American |
5.047 |
2 |
5.851 |
-13.7 |
3 |
Delta |
4.351 |
3 |
4.447 |
-2.2 |
4 |
US Airways |
3.532 |
4 |
3.833 |
-7.9 |
5 |
United |
3.379 |
5 |
3.815 |
-11.4 |
6 |
Northwest |
2.362 |
6 |
3.075 |
-23.2 |
7 |
Continental |
2.325 |
7 |
2.771 |
-16.1 |
8 |
AirTran |
1.657 |
9 |
1.630 |
1.6 |
9 |
JetBlue |
1.513 |
8 |
1.639 |
-7.7 |
10 |
SkyWest |
1.407 |
10 |
1.503 |
-6.4 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 8. Top 10
U.S. Airports,
ranked by January 2009 Domestic Scheduled Enplanements
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlanta |
2.802 |
1 |
2.824 |
-0.8 |
2 |
Dallas/Ft. Worth |
1.776 |
3 |
1.957 |
-9.2 |
3 |
Chicago O'Hare |
1.730 |
2 |
2.054 |
-15.8 |
4 |
Denver |
1.647 |
4 |
1.740 |
-5.3 |
5 |
Los Angeles |
1.431 |
6 |
1.593 |
-10.2 |
6 |
Phoenix |
1.368 |
7 |
1.497 |
-8.6 |
7 |
Las Vegas |
1.351 |
5 |
1.599 |
-15.5 |
8 |
Charlotte |
1.217 |
10 |
1.212 |
0.5 |
9 |
Orlando |
1.217 |
8 |
1.383 |
-12.0 |
10 |
Houston Bush |
1.146 |
9 |
1.318 |
-13.1 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 9: International Scheduled Airline Travel on
U.S. Carriers
Excel | CSV
Passengers (in millions) |
7.5 |
6.9 |
-7.2 |
90.5 |
91.5 |
1.2 |
Flights (in thousands) |
72.8 |
67.3 |
-7.5 |
862.9 |
848.2 |
-1.7 |
Revenue Passenger Miles (in billions) |
19.3 |
18.1 |
-6.2 |
237.1 |
244.1 |
2.9 |
Available Seat-Miles (in billions) |
25.2 |
24.7 |
-2.1 |
296.4 |
308.9 |
4.2 |
Load Factor* |
76.6 |
73.3 |
-3.3 |
80.0 |
79.0 |
-1.0 |
Flight Stage Length** |
1,715.3 |
1,791.3 |
4.4 |
1,703.5 |
1,785.7 |
4.8 |
Passenger Trip Length*** |
2,581.4 |
2,609.9 |
1.1 |
2,621.3 |
2,666.5 |
1.7 |
Source:
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market and Segment
*Change in load factor points
**The average non-stop distance flown
per departure in miles
*** The average distance flown per
passenger in miles
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 10 International Scheduled Enplanements on
U.S. Carriers
Passenger
numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
January |
7.1 |
7.5 |
4.9 |
6.9 |
-7.2 |
February |
6.3 |
6.9 |
9.3 |
|
|
March |
7.9 |
8.5 |
7.2 |
|
|
April |
7.5 |
7.6 |
1.2 |
|
|
May |
7.5 |
8.0 |
6.5 |
|
|
June |
8.2 |
8.4 |
2.4 |
|
|
July |
8.9 |
9.1 |
1.3 |
|
|
August |
8.7 |
8.9 |
2.0 |
|
|
September |
6.9 |
6.6 |
-5.0 |
|
|
October |
7.0 |
6.7 |
-3.6 |
|
|
November |
6.9 |
6.4 |
-6.8 |
|
|
December |
7.5 |
7.1 |
-5.6 |
|
|
1 Mo. Total |
7.1 |
7.5 |
4.9 |
6.9 |
-7.2 |
Yr. Total |
90.5 |
91.5 |
1.2 |
|
|
Source: Bureau
of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 11. Top 10 U.S. Airlines, ranked by
January 2009 International Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Carriers
Passenger numbers in thousands (000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
American |
1,649.8 |
1 |
1,818.8 |
-9.3 |
2 |
Continental |
924.2 |
3 |
959.3 |
-3.7 |
3 |
Delta |
910.8 |
4 |
896.5 |
1.6 |
4 |
United |
832.6 |
2 |
961.5 |
-13.4 |
5 |
Northwest |
769.5 |
5 |
820.9 |
-6.3 |
6 |
US Airways |
515.8 |
6 |
484.1 |
6.6 |
7 |
Alaska |
153.5 |
7 |
203.0 |
-24.4 |
8 |
JetBlue |
147.1 |
12 |
87.9 |
67.3 |
9 |
ExpressJet |
130.2 |
8 |
168.6 |
-22.8 |
10 |
Continental
Micronesia |
93.4 |
10 |
112.5 |
-17.0 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 12. Top 10 U.S. Airports, ranked by
January 2009 International Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Airlines
Passenger numbers in thousands (000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Miami |
430.1 |
1 |
427.5 |
0.6 |
2 |
Atlanta |
310.5 |
2 |
309.2 |
0.4 |
3 |
New York JFK |
293.6 |
3 |
302.2 |
-2.9 |
4 |
Newark |
274.9 |
4 |
286.8 |
-4.2 |
5 |
Houston Bush |
252.8 |
5 |
253.6 |
-0.3 |
6 |
Chicago O'Hare |
213.5 |
6 |
245.9 |
-13.2 |
7 |
Dallas/Ft. Worth |
155.9 |
7 |
176.1 |
-11.5 |
8 |
Los Angeles |
123.5 |
8 |
162.1 |
-23.8 |
9 |
San Francisco |
112.5 |
9 |
145.6 |
-22.8 |
10 |
Washington Dulles |
109.9 |
11 |
115.8 |
-5.1 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
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