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Table 1-34: U.S. Air Carrier Aircraft Departures, Enplaned Revenue Passengers, and Enplaned Revenue Tons

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  1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 (R) 2000 (R) 2001 2002 2003
AIRCRAFT DEPARTURES                                  
Total performeda 4,555,516 5,156,848 5,505,659 6,641,681 6,545,000 6,606,609 7,193,841 7,513,232 8,030,530 8,204,674 8,095,888 8,248,269 8,605,486 8,957,993 8,576,964 8,224,121 8,804,262
Total scheduled 4,530,535 5,204,564 5,591,596 6,758,571 7,024,412 6,703,670 7,058,097 7,359,093 7,920,467 8,064,653 7,907,554 8,094,020 8,432,940 8,680,059 8,367,753 8,163,234 8,719,284
Large hubs                                  
Performed 2,437,958 2,887,239 3,439,446 4,167,868 4,114,950 4,078,211 4,480,575 4,756,589 5,162,534 5,257,541 5,266,560 5,416,158 5,645,179 5,747,367 5,087,765 5,358,697 5,078,548
Scheduled 2,409,874 2,905,923 3,487,660 4,237,466 4,312,032 4,144,325 4,443,937 4,713,178 5,147,875 5,243,646 5,219,161 5,405,728 5,570,419 5,578,593 5,012,524 5,308,166 5,077,665
Medium hubs                                  
Performed 902,652 1,048,726 1,185,008 1,394,833 1,256,306 1,301,977 1,310,322 1,471,377 1,439,639 1,425,280 1,430,537 1,429,730 1,499,243 1,713,370 1,990,393 1,498,772 1,924,962
Scheduled 899,543 1,058,438 1,201,540 1,417,762 1,352,515 1,312,257 1,268,316 1,398,144 1,387,833 1,356,162 1,352,944 1,345,197 1,404,482 1,645,385 1,897,953 1,490,040 1,901,540
Small hubs                                  
Performed 640,589 598,559 514,176 669,450 689,518 771,529 841,685 710,569 738,231 754,914 695,841 714,920 746,625 780,396 815,700 747,715 1,015,831
Scheduled 644,133 608,738 524,048 679,103 858,429 783,305 794,279 685,421 711,947 722,170 660,685 674,812 770,092 761,263 796,472 777,324 983,410
Nonhubs                                  
Performed 574,317 622,324 367,029 409,530 484,226 454,892 561,259 574,697 690,126 766,939 702,950 687,461 714,439 716,860 683,106 618,937 784,921
Scheduled 576,985 631,465 378,348 424,240 501,436 463,783 551,565 562,350 672,812 742,675 674,764 668,283 687,947 694,818 660,804 587,704 756,669
ENPLANED REVENUE PASSENGERSb 196,782,144 281,408,852 363,341,497 438,544,001 428,319,248 447,625,988 468,313,029 508,458,194 526,055,483 558,183,741 568,615,687 588,335,318 610,628,716 639,446,947 595,972,862 577,422,530 595,149,842
Large hubs 133,975,900 197,679,376 264,507,144 317,595,099 313,375,097 319,582,090 340,048,661 372,731,005 392,601,890 417,339,694 426,246,423 442,402,443 458,665,099 467,620,242 403,616,740 426,962,279 400,638,780
Medium hubs 36,539,613 51,664,627 65,770,376 80,466,373 72,985,169 80,800,955 79,032,913 88,601,244 85,929,285 89,018,764 90,779,705 91,755,793 96,394,866 113,405,037 133,153,039 97,578,535 126,876,982
Small hubs 19,406,607 23,393,324 24,240,726 30,771,383 31,224,974 36,879,632 37,334,956 34,443,996 33,561,098 37,122,974 36,298,979 37,675,305 38,644,557 40,389,121 40,692,711 37,713,263 49,025,098
Nonhubs 6,860,024 8,671,525 8,823,251 9,711,146 10,734,008 10,363,311 11,896,499 12,681,949 13,963,210 14,702,309 15,290,580 16,501,777 16,924,194 18,032,547 18,510,372 15,168,453 18,608,982
ENPLANED REVENUE TONS c 3,661,061 5,088,313 4,024,470 6,298,824 6,417,504 6,736,309 8,203,090 8,718,082 9,365,017 10,333,298 13,520,228 14,083,769 14,911,847 15,059,539 17,514,903 13,335,026 13,849,146
Freight, total 2,764,763 3,562,187 2,601,027 4,732,726 4,854,513 5,053,678 6,383,887 6,802,375 7,204,479 8,047,795 11,163,448 11,784,514 12,067,717 12,731,046 15,806,017 12,697,666 13,006,815
Large hubs 2,265,665 3,008,311 2,047,988 3,001,217 2,960,604 3,067,778 3,678,851 4,025,517 4,402,327 4,653,189 5,691,363 6,208,629 5,993,061 6,313,583 5,873,484 5,658,380 5,218,742
Medium hubs 358,044 414,325 469,057 1,446,744 1,507,017 1,633,136 1,857,865 2,022,282 1,950,318 2,169,411 3,855,449 3,897,242 4,382,712 4,795,686 6,802,985 5,380,734 4,132,885
Small hubs 99,133 73,795 48,127 191,358 222,247 267,619 516,199 432,680 541,062 755,232 963,093 1,019,615 1,053,050 954,430 2,236,951 931,033 2,521,107
Nonhubs 41,922 65,756 35,855 93,407 164,645 85,145 330,973 321,896 310,772 469,962 653,542 659,028 638,894 667,346 892,597 727,519 1,133,081
Mail, total 896,298 1,526,125 1,423,443 1,566,098 1,562,991 1,682,632 1,819,203 1,915,706 2,160,538 2,285,503 2,356,781 2,299,255 2,844,130 2,328,494 1,708,886 637,361 842,331
Large hubs 677,179 1,091,059 1,082,567 1,146,589 1,095,019 1,201,545 1,320,176 1,406,910 1,546,568 1,630,445 1,699,154 1,662,643 2,183,127 1,647,633 1,104,674 481,719 628,115
Medium hubs 151,498 255,929 268,179 292,899 321,041 321,051 324,441 344,200 442,814 466,583 473,577 482,710 502,096 532,461 434,875 120,937 121,195
Small hubs 48,486 148,116 59,917 108,656 126,070 144,918 152,692 136,111 136,008 157,137 138,818 127,748 126,793 108,869 128,431 23,253 79,404
Nonhubs 19,134 31,021 12,781 17,954 20,861 15,117 21,894 28,485 35,149 31,338 45,232 26,154 32,114 39,531 40,907 11,452 13,617

KEY: R = revised.

a Total performed includes scheduled departures performed minus those scheduled departures that did not occur plus unscheduled service.

b The number of persons receiving air transportation from an air carrier for which renumeration is received by the carrier, excluding persons receiving reduced rate charges, such as air carrier employees, infants, and others (except ministers of religion, elderly individuals, and handicapped individuals).

c The number of short tons of freight transported by an air carrier aboard an aircraft.

NOTES

Data are for all scheduled and nonscheduled service by large certificated U.S. air carriers at all airports served within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. areas designated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Not all scheduled service is actually performed. Moreover, for several years, total performed departures exceed total scheduled departures because nonscheduled departures are included in the totals. Prior to 1993, all scheduled and some nonscheduled enplanements for certificated air carriers were included; no enplanements were included for air carriers offering charter service only. Prior to 1990, freight includes both freight and express shipments, and mail includes priority and nonpriority U.S. mail and foreign mail; beginning in 1990, only aggregate numbers are reported.

Large certificated air carriers operate aircraft with seating capacity of more than 60 seats or a maximum payload capacity of more than 18,000 pounds and hold Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation authorizing the performance of air transportation. Data for commuter, intrastate, and foreign-flag air carriers are not included.

Air traffic hubs are designated as geographical areas based on the percentage of total passengers enplaned in the area. A hub may have more than one airport in it. (This definition of hub should not be confused with the definition used by the airlines in describing their "hub-and-spoke" route structures) Individual communities fall into four hub classifications as determined by each community's percentage of total enplaned revenue passengers in all services and all operations of U.S. certificated route carriers within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. areas. Classifications are based on the percentage of total enplaned revenue passengers for each year according to the following: one percent or more = large, 0.25 to 0.9999 percent = medium, 0.05 to 0.249 percent = small, less than 0.05 = nonhub.

Data, include determination of airports' hub designations

SOURCE

1975-1999: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Airport Activity Statistics of Certified Route Air Carriers (Washington, DC: Annual issues), tables 2, 3, 4, and 5.

2000-2003: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Special Tabulation of data from the Office of Airline Information.
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