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October Airline Traffic: Ten-Month Domestic Traffic Up 7.7 Percent From 2003
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BTS 04-05 Dave Smallen
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Thursday, January 13, 2005 - U.S. airlines carried 7.7 percent more domestic passengers and flew 4.1 percent more domestic flights during the first 10 months of 2004 than they did during the same period in 2003, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported, in a release of preliminary data (Table 1).
The airlines carried 527.5 million domestic passengers during the first 10 months of 2004, up from the 489.9 million carried between January and October 2003 (Table 2). The passengers were carried on 8.3 million flights, up 4.1 percent from the 8.0 million flights operated in 2003 (Table 1).
In other domestic comparisons from the first 10 months of 2003 to the first 10 months of 2004:
Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 10.5 percent.
Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 7.9 percent.
Load factor, a measure of how many seats are sold and used, was up 1.8 points.
Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance, was up 4.2 percent.
Passenger trip length, the average distance passengers travel, was up 2.6 percent.
Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 67.9 million domestic passengers during the first 10 months of 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 the first 10 months of 2004, with 31.4 million passenger boardings (Table 4).
October 2004 Airline Traffic
In October 2004, U.S. airlines carried 53.4 million domestic passengers, 6.0 percent more than in October 2003 (Table 5).
These passengers were carried on 807,788 flights, down 2.6 percent from the flights operated in October 2003. Several air carriers with about 90,000 monthly departures have yet to report October data. These carriers' reports would have little effect on October passengers, seats and miles.
In other month-to-month domestic comparisons from October 2003 to October 2004:
Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 9.3 percent.
Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 5.2 percent.
Load factor, a measure of how many seats are sold and used, was up 2.8 points.
Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance, was up 6.6 percent.
Passenger trip length, the average distance passengers travel, was up 3.1 percent.
The number of domestic airline passengers rose 11.0 percent in October from September (Table 2). Month-to-month comparisons may be affected by seasonal factors.
Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 6.9 million domestic passengers during October, the most of any airline (Table 6).
Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during October, 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 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. October traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS from 97 airlines as of Jan. 11. Data are subject to revision.
Revised data from September 2004 and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov. BTS will release November traffic data on Feb. 10.
Table 1: Domestic Airline Travel January to October
Excel | CSV
Passengers |
489,902,499 |
527,479,187 |
7.7% |
Flights |
7,988,549 |
8,312,918 |
4.1% |
Revenue Passenger Miles(000) |
414,686,066 |
458,316,685 |
10.5% |
Available Seat-Miles(000) |
568,047,097 |
612,663,007 |
7.9% |
Load Factor |
73.0 |
74.8 |
1.8 Pct. Pts |
Flight Stage Length |
575 |
599 |
4.2% |
Passenger Trip Length |
846 |
869 |
2.6% |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market and Segment
Table 2: Total Industry Domestic Enplanements
Excel | CSV
January |
43,301,100 |
44,115,683 |
February |
41,503,697 |
45,612,845 |
March |
50,387,301 |
54,512,292 |
April |
47,363,867 |
53,610,906 |
May |
49,412,315 |
53,321,011 |
June |
52,539,413 |
57,242,810 |
July |
56,148,081 |
60,074,910 |
August |
54,319,794 |
57,538,518 |
September |
44,576,369 |
48,077,772 |
October |
50,350,562 |
53,372,440 |
November |
47,455,309 |
|
December |
50,126,721 |
|
Jan-Oct Total |
489,902,499 |
527,479,187 |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market
Table 3: Top 10 Airlines, ranked by January to October 2004 Domestic Enplanements
Excel | CSV
1 |
Southwest Airlines |
62,636,005 |
67,854,148 |
2 |
2 |
Delta Air Lines |
65,048,547 |
66,232,032 |
1 |
3 |
American Airlines |
60,855,868 |
60,704,637 |
3 |
4 |
United Airlines |
47,173,833 |
50,692,556 |
4 |
5 |
Northwest Airlines |
36,193,384 |
38,343,765 |
5 |
6 |
U. S. Airways |
31,085,588 |
31,555,223 |
6 |
7 |
Continental Airlines |
25,687,464 |
26,202,750 |
7 |
8 |
America West Airlines |
16,117,723 |
16,819,838 |
8 |
9 |
Alaska Airlines |
10,906,109 |
11,939,251 |
9 |
10 |
American Eagle Airlines |
9,610,192 |
11,893,071 |
10 |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market
Table 4: Top 10 Airports ranked by January-October 2004 Domestic Enplanements
Excel | CSV
1 |
Hartsfield-Jackson Int'l |
29,775,275 |
31,377,040 |
1 |
2 |
O'Hare Int'l |
23,763,734 |
26,062,548 |
2 |
3 |
Dallas-Ft.Worth Int'l |
18,930,964 |
21,480,632 |
3 |
4 |
Los Angeles Int'l |
16,300,007 |
17,825,107 |
4 |
5 |
Denver Int'l |
14,451,638 |
16,526,120 |
6 |
6 |
Las Vegas McCarran Int'l |
14,107,940 |
16,191,349 |
7 |
7 |
Phoenix Sky Harbor Int'l |
14,692,503 |
15,469,512 |
5 |
8 |
Minneapolis-St.Paul Int'l |
12,529,843 |
13,588,797 |
8 |
9 |
Detroit Metro-Wayne County |
11,788,735 |
12,670,011 |
9 |
10 |
Orlando Int'l |
10,359,026 |
11,800,772 |
11 |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market
Table 5: Domestic Airline Travel in October
Excel | CSV
Passengers |
50,350,562 |
53,372,440 |
6.0% |
Flights |
829,648 |
807,788 |
-2.6% |
Revenue Passenger Miles(000) |
41,943,712 |
45,829,487 |
9.3% |
Available Seat-Miles(000) |
58,655,479 |
61,692,624 |
5.2% |
Load Factor |
71.5 |
74.3 |
2.8 Pct. Pts |
Flight Stage Length |
579 |
617 |
6.6% |
Passenger Trip Length |
833 |
859 |
3.1% |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market and Segment
Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, ranked by October 2004 Domestic Enplanements
Excel | CSV
1 |
Southwest Airlines |
6,280,808 |
6,899,590 |
2 |
2 |
Delta Air Lines |
6,675,188 |
6,738,373 |
1 |
3 |
American Airlines |
6,004,427 |
6,041,460 |
3 |
4 |
United Airlines |
4,688,073 |
5,102,099 |
4 |
5 |
Northwest Airlines |
3,648,275 |
3,890,541 |
5 |
6 |
U.S. Airways |
3,226,481 |
3,351,645 |
6 |
7 |
Continental Airlines |
2,530,875 |
2,654,994 |
7 |
8 |
America West Airlines |
1,609,313 |
1,750,382 |
8 |
9 |
American Eagle Airlines |
1,046,048 |
1,327,824 |
9 |
10 |
Skywest Airlines |
989,330 |
1,208,791 |
13 |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market
Table 7: Top 10 Airports ranked by October 2004 Domestic Enplanements
Excel | CSV
1 |
Hartsfield-Jackson Int'l |
3,160,821 |
3,229,036 |
1 |
2 |
O'Hare Int'l |
2,481,609 |
2,762,870 |
2 |
3 |
Dallas-Ft. Worth Int'l |
1,945,653 |
2,173,745 |
3 |
4 |
Los Angeles Int'l |
1,563,525 |
1,742,868 |
4 |
5 |
Las Vegas McCarran Int'l |
1,505,331 |
1,722,383 |
5 |
6 |
Phoenix Sky Harbor Int'l |
1,410,190 |
1,586,252 |
7 |
7 |
Denver Int'l |
1,476,403 |
1,581,310 |
6 |
8 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul Int'l |
1,260,083 |
1,353,700 |
8 |
9 |
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County |
1,247,609 |
1,317,527 |
9 |
10 |
Bush Intercontinental (Houston) |
1,121,626 |
1,198,119 |
10 |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market
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