August Airline Traffic Data; Eight-Month Domestic Traffic Up 7.5 Percent From 2003

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Contact BTS 31-04 Roger Lotz 202-366-2246

Friday, November 12, 2004 - U.S. airlines carried 7.5 percent more domestic passengers and flew 3.9 percent more domestic flights during the first eight months of this year than they did during the same period last year, 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 424.8 million domestic passengers during the first eight months of 2004, up from the 395.3 million in 2003. These passengers were carried on 6.6 million flights, up 3.9 percent from the 6.4 million flights operated in 2003 (Table 2).

In other domestic comparisons from the first eight months of 2003 to the first eight 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 8.3 percent.

Load factor, a measure of how many seats are sold and used, was up 1.5 percentage points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance, was up 4.7 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance passengers travel, was up 2.8 percent.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 54.8 million domestic passengers during the first eight 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 eight months of 2004, with 25.5 million passenger boardings (Table 4).

August 2004 Airline Traffic

In August 2004, U.S. airlines carried 56.2 million domestic passengers, 3.5 percent more than in August 2003 (Table 5).

These passengers were carried on 826,614 flights, down 2.2 percent from the flights operated in August 2003, reflecting the effect of hurricanes in the South.

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

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 6.9 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 6.8 percent.

Load factor, a measure of how many seats are sold and used, was up 0.1 percentage points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance, was up 7.9 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance passengers travel, was up 3.3 percent.

The number of domestic airline passengers declined 6.1 percent in August from July (Table 1).  Month-to-month comparisons may be affected by seasonal factors.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 7.4 million domestic passengers during August, the most of any airline (Table 6).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during August, with 3.3 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.  August traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS from 160 airlines as of November 9.  Data are subject to revision.

Revised data from July 2004 and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov.  BTS will release September traffic data on December 9. 

Table 1: Total Industry Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

Table 2: Domestic Airline Travel January to August

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

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

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

Table 4: Top 10 Airports ranked by January-August 2004 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

Table 5: Domestic Airline Travel in August

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

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

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market

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

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Source: T-100 Domestic Market