January 2008 Airline
Traffic Data: January
2008 System Traffic Up 1.0 Percent from January 2007
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Contact |
BTS 17-08
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
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Thursday, April 10, 2008 - U.S. airlines carried 57.7 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in
January 2008, 1.0 percent more than they did in January 2007, 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 rise was the 16th
consecutive monthly increase in system passengers from the same month of the
previous year (Table 2).
U.S. airlines carried 0.4 percent more domestic passengers and 4.9 percent more
international passengers in January 2008 than in January 2007 (Tables 5, 9). These passengers traveled on planes with average
load factors of 74.0 percent (Tables 1, 5, 9).
Top Airlines in January
American
Airlines carried more total system and international passengers in January 2008
than any other airline (Tables 3, 11); and Southwest Airlines carried more domestic
passengers (Table 7).
America West Airlines and US
Airways report jointly as US Airways. Numbers reported as US Airways in this release for previous years do not
include America West’s numbers. See the
notes for system, domestic and international airline ranking tables 3, 7 and 11
for 2007 passenger numbers previously reported for America West.
Top Airports in January
More total system and domestic
passengers boarded planes in January 2008 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 863,000 domestic and international flights in January 2008, 1.5
percent fewer than in January 2007 (Table 1). Domestic fights were down 1.7 percent from January of the previous year
while international flights were up 1.0 percent (Tables 5, 9).
System Comparisons
(Table 1-4)
In other total system comparisons
from January 2007 to January 2008 (Table 1):
Revenue
passenger miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance
flown, were up 2.6 percent in January 2008.
Available
seat-miles (ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and
the distance flown, were up 1.8 percent in January 2008.
Passenger
load factor, passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was up 0.6
load factor points in January 2008.
Flight stage length, the average non-stop
distance flown per departure, was up 3.0 percent in January 2008.
Passenger trip length, the average
distance flown per passenger, was up 1.6 percent in January 2008.
Among U.S. airlines, American Airlines carried 7.7
million passengers on its system in January 2008, the most of any airline (Table
3).
Among airports, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
International was the busiest U.S. airport in January 2008, 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 50.2 million scheduled domestic passengers in January 2008, up
0.4 percent from 50.0 million carried in January 2007 (Table 6). The passengers
were carried on 790,400 flights, down 1.7 percent from the 803,800 flights
operated in January 2007 (Table 5).
In other domestic comparisons from January
2007 to January 2008 (Table 5):
Domestic revenue
passenger miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance
flown, were up 0.9 percent in January 2008.
Domestic available seat-miles
(ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the
distance flown, were unchanged in January 2008.
Domestic passenger load factor, passenger
miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was up 0.6 load factor points to
72.9 percent in January 2008.
Domestic flight stage length, the
average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 2.2 percent in January
2008.
Domestic passenger trip length, the
average distance flown per passenger, was up 0.5 percent in January 2008.
Southwest Airlines carried 7.7 million domestic passengers
in January 2008, the most of any airline (Table 7).
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
International was the busiest domestic airport in January 2008, with 2.8 million
domestic passenger boardings (Table 8).
International Air
Travel (Tables 9-12)
U.S. airlines carried 7.5 million scheduled international passengers in January 2008,
up 4.9 percent from the 7.1 million carried in January 2007 (Table 9). The
passengers were carried on 72,600 flights, up 1.0 percent from the 71,900 flights
operated in January 2007 (Table 9).
In other international comparisons
from January 2007 to January 2008 (Table 9):
International revenue passenger
miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown,
were up 6.6 percent in January 2008.
International available seat-miles
(ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the
distance flown, were up 6.1 percent in January 2008.
International passenger
load factor, passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was up 0.4
load factor points to 76.5 in January 2008.
International flight stage length, the average
non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 4.5 percent in January 2008.
International
passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger was up 1.7
percent in January 2008.
American Airlines
carried 1.8 million international passengers in January 2008, 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 2008, with 427,500 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 91 carriers as of April 3 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.
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 are available on the
BTS website at TranStats, the Intermodal Transportation Database, at http://transtats.bts.gov. Click on "Aviation." For system passengers, RPMs and ASMs by
carrier through January, click on "Air Carrier Summary Data (Form 41 and 298C
Summary Data)," and then click on "Schedule T-1."
For domestic numbers through January and
international numbers through October by origin as well as by carrier and
region, 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.
TranStats system and international totals do not
include
U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point
flights that are included in the summary totals in this press release. For January, U.S. carriers reported 248,344 foreign
point-to-point passengers.
Data are subject to revision. BTS has scheduled May 15 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) |
57.1 |
57.7 |
1.0 |
744.7 |
769.5 |
3.3 |
Flights (in thousands) |
875.8 |
863.0 |
-1.5 |
10,557.9 |
10,667.0 |
1.0 |
Revenue Passenger Miles(in billions) |
61.9 |
63.5 |
2.6 |
797.4 |
829.4 |
4.0 |
Available Seat-Miles(in billions) |
84.4 |
85.8 |
1.8 |
1,006.3 |
1,037.6 |
3.1 |
Load Factor* |
73.4 |
74.0 |
0.6 |
79.2 |
79.9 |
0.7 |
Flight Stage Length** |
700.9 |
721.7 |
3.0 |
697.3 |
707.9 |
1.5 |
Passenger Trip Length*** |
1,083.3 |
1,100.7 |
1.6 |
1,070.8 |
1,077.9 |
0.7 |
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 |
55.6 |
57.1 |
2.8 |
57.7 |
1.0 |
February |
53.3 |
54.1 |
1.4 |
|
|
March |
65.8 |
67.2 |
2.0 |
|
|
April |
63.2 |
64.9 |
2.7 |
|
|
May |
64.4 |
66.8 |
3.6 |
|
|
June |
67.2 |
69.7 |
3.6 |
|
|
July |
69.5 |
72.4 |
4.1 |
|
|
August |
66.5 |
71.3 |
7.3 |
|
|
September |
56.4 |
59.2 |
4.9 |
|
|
October |
61.6 |
64.2 |
4.1 |
|
|
November |
60.3 |
61.9 |
2.7 |
|
|
December |
60.7 |
60.8 |
0.1 |
|
|
Yr. Total |
744.7 |
769.5 |
3.3 |
|
|
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 2008 System* Scheduled Enplanements
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
American |
7.670 |
1 |
7.685 |
-0.2 |
2 |
Southwest |
7.654 |
2 |
7.285 |
5.1 |
3 |
Delta |
5.344 |
3 |
5.487 |
-2.6 |
4 |
United |
4.776 |
4 |
5.323 |
-10.3 |
5 |
US Airways** |
4.317 |
7 |
2.856 |
51.2 |
6 |
Northwest |
3.896 |
5 |
4.083 |
-4.6 |
7 |
Continental |
3.731 |
6 |
3.694 |
1.0 |
8 |
JetBlue |
1.727 |
8 |
1.645 |
5.0 |
9 |
AirTran |
1.630 |
11 |
1.494 |
9.1 |
10 |
SkyWest |
1.588 |
10 |
1.628 |
-2.4 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, T-100 Market
* System equals domestic plus
international
** US Airways 2008 number is
the report of the merged US Airways and America West. The 2007 numbers were reported separately by
US Airways and America West. America West reported 1.642 million system
passengers in January 2007.
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 4: Top 10
U.S. Airports ranked by January 2008 System* Scheduled Enplanements
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlanta |
3.133 |
1 |
3.043 |
3.0 |
2 |
Chicago O'Hare |
2.300 |
2 |
2.578 |
-10.8 |
3 |
Dallas-Ft. Worth |
2.133 |
3 |
2.110 |
1.1 |
4 |
Denver |
1.777 |
4 |
1.770 |
0.4 |
5 |
Los Angeles |
1.755 |
5 |
1.767 |
-0.7 |
6 |
Las Vegas |
1.613 |
6 |
1.642 |
-1.8 |
7 |
Houston Bush |
1.572 |
8 |
1.571 |
0.0 |
8 |
Phoenix |
1.558 |
7 |
1.609 |
-3.1 |
9 |
Orlando |
1.389 |
9 |
1.325 |
4.8 |
10 |
Charlotte |
1.300 |
14 |
1.217 |
6.8 |
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) |
50.0 |
50.2 |
0.4 |
658.4 |
679.1 |
3.1 |
Flights (in thousands) |
803.8 |
790.4 |
-1.7 |
9,708.1 |
9,810.2 |
1.1 |
Revenue Passenger Miles(in billions) |
43.8 |
44.2 |
0.9 |
574.5 |
592.4 |
3.1 |
Available Seat-Miles(in billions) |
60.6 |
60.6 |
0.0 |
725.7 |
741.3 |
2.1 |
Load Factor* |
72.3 |
72.9 |
0.6 |
79.2 |
79.9 |
0.7 |
Flight Stage Length** |
616.5 |
630.0 |
2.2 |
614.8 |
620.0 |
0.9 |
Passenger Trip Length*** |
876.1 |
880.6 |
0.5 |
872.6 |
872.2 |
0.0 |
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 |
48.9 |
50.0 |
2.3 |
50.2 |
0.4 |
February |
47.4 |
47.8 |
0.9 |
|
|
March |
58.3 |
59.2 |
1.6 |
|
|
April |
55.8 |
57.4 |
2.8 |
|
|
May |
57.1 |
59.3 |
3.7 |
|
|
June |
59.3 |
61.5 |
3.7 |
|
|
July |
60.8 |
63.4 |
4.3 |
|
|
August |
58.3 |
62.6 |
7.4 |
|
|
September |
50.0 |
52.3 |
4.7 |
|
|
October |
55.1 |
57.2 |
3.8 |
|
|
November |
53.9 |
55.0 |
2.2 |
|
|
December |
53.5 |
53.3 |
-0.5 |
|
|
Yr. Total |
658.4 |
679.1 |
3.1 |
|
|
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 2008 Domestic Scheduled Enplanements
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Southwest |
7.654 |
1 |
7.285 |
5.1 |
2 |
American |
5.851 |
2 |
5.910 |
-1.0 |
3 |
Delta |
4.447 |
3 |
4.621 |
-3.8 |
4 |
US Airways* |
3.833 |
7 |
2.536 |
51.1 |
5 |
United |
3.815 |
4 |
4.364 |
-12.6 |
6 |
Northwest |
3.075 |
5 |
3.278 |
-6.2 |
7 |
Continental |
2.771 |
6 |
2.800 |
-1.0 |
8 |
JetBlue |
1.639 |
8 |
1.600 |
2.4 |
9 |
AirTran |
1.630 |
11 |
1.490 |
9.4 |
10 |
SkyWest |
1.503 |
9 |
1.545 |
-2.7 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market
* US Airways 2008 number is
the report of the merged US Airways and America West. The 2007 number was reported separately by US
Airways and America West. America West reported 1.519 million domestic
passengers in January 2007.
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 8: Top 10
U.S. Airports,
ranked by January 2008 Domestic Scheduled Enplanements
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlanta |
2.824 |
1 |
2.744 |
2.9 |
2 |
Chicago O'Hare |
2.054 |
2 |
2.322 |
-11.5 |
3 |
Dallas-Ft. Worth |
1.957 |
3 |
1.945 |
0.6 |
4 |
Denver |
1.714 |
4 |
1.714 |
0.0 |
5 |
Las Vegas |
1.599 |
5 |
1.626 |
-1.6 |
6 |
Los Angeles |
1.593 |
6 |
1.607 |
-0.9 |
7 |
Phoenix |
1.497 |
7 |
1.555 |
-3.7 |
8 |
Orlando |
1.383 |
9 |
1.319 |
4.9 |
9 |
Houston Bush |
1.318 |
8 |
1.329 |
-0.8 |
10 |
Charlotte |
1.212 |
11 |
1.141 |
6.2 |
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) |
7.1 |
7.5 |
4.9 |
86.3 |
90.4 |
4.7 |
Flights (in thousands) |
71.9 |
72.6 |
1.0 |
849.8 |
856.8 |
0.8 |
Revenue Passenger-Miles(in billions) |
18.1 |
19.3 |
6.6 |
222.9 |
237.1 |
6.4 |
Available Seat-Miles(in billions) |
23.7 |
25.2 |
6.1 |
280.6 |
296.3 |
5.6 |
Load Factor* |
76.1 |
76.5 |
0.4 |
79.4 |
80.0 |
0.6 |
Flight Stage Length** |
1,644.5 |
1,719.1 |
4.5 |
1,640.3 |
1,714.2 |
4.5 |
Passenger Trip Length*** |
2,540.7 |
2,583.0 |
1.7 |
2,582.4 |
2,623.1 |
1.6 |
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 |
6.7 |
7.1 |
6.0 |
7.5 |
4.9 |
February |
6.0 |
6.3 |
5.4 |
|
|
March |
7.5 |
7.9 |
5.0 |
|
|
April |
7.3 |
7.5 |
1.9 |
|
|
May |
7.3 |
7.5 |
2.6 |
|
|
June |
7.9 |
8.2 |
3.3 |
|
|
July |
8.7 |
8.9 |
3.2 |
|
|
August |
8.2 |
8.7 |
6.1 |
|
|
September |
6.5 |
6.9 |
6.5 |
|
|
October |
6.6 |
7.0 |
6.3 |
|
|
November |
6.4 |
6.9 |
6.5 |
|
|
December |
7.2 |
7.5 |
4.9 |
|
|
Yr. Total |
86.3 |
90.4 |
4.7 |
|
|
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 2008 International Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Carriers
Passenger numbers in thousands (000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
American |
1,818.8 |
1 |
1,775.2 |
2.5 |
2 |
United |
961.5 |
2 |
958.2 |
0.3 |
3 |
Continental |
959.3 |
3 |
894.3 |
7.3 |
4 |
Delta |
896.5 |
4 |
866.2 |
3.5 |
5 |
Northwest |
820.9 |
5 |
805.0 |
2.0 |
6 |
US Airways* |
484.1 |
6 |
319.2 |
51.6 |
7 |
Alaska |
203.0 |
7 |
203.3 |
-0.1 |
8 |
ExpressJet |
168.6 |
8 |
160.4 |
5.1 |
9 |
Executive |
142.2 |
9 |
138.1 |
3.0 |
10 |
Spirit |
110.0 |
14 |
65.7 |
67.5 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, T-100 International Market
* US Airways 2008 number is
the report of the merged US Airways and America West. The 2007 number was reported separately by US
Airways and America West. America West reported 122,800 international
passengers in January 2007.
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 12: Top 10
U.S. Airports,
ranked by January 2008 International Scheduled Enplanements
Passenger numbers in thousands (000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Miami |
427.5 |
1 |
397.2 |
7.6 |
2 |
Atlanta |
309.2 |
2 |
298.8 |
3.5 |
3 |
New York JFK |
302.2 |
3 |
269.9 |
12.0 |
4 |
Newark |
286.8 |
4 |
262.8 |
9.1 |
5 |
Houston Bush |
253.6 |
6 |
242.9 |
4.4 |
6 |
Chicago O'Hare |
245.9 |
5 |
256.5 |
-4.1 |
7 |
Dallas-Ft. Worth |
176.1 |
7 |
165.5 |
6.4 |
8 |
Los Angeles |
162.1 |
8 |
159.6 |
1.6 |
9 |
San Francisco |
145.6 |
9 |
138.4 |
5.2 |
10 |
Detroit Metro |
130.7 |
10 |
122.1 |
7.1 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, T-100 International Market
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
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