Summary 2008 Traffic
Data for U.S and Foreign Airlines: Total Passengers Down 3.5 Percent from 2007
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BTS 19-09
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
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Thursday, April 23, 2009 - The number of scheduled
domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines and on flights to and from the United
States on foreign airlines declined in 2008 by
3.5 percent from 2007, dropping to 809 million, the Department of
Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported
(Table 1).
BTS, a part of DOT’s Research and
Innovative Technology Administration, in a release of preliminary data, reported
that U.S. airlines carried 3.7 percent fewer total system passengers in 2008 than in
2007. U.S. airlines carried 4.3 percent fewer domestic passengers in 2008 and 1.2 percent
more international passengers than in 2007. Passengers to and from the United
States on foreign carriers decreased 1.5 percent
from 2007 (Table 1A).
This release includes data on U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier
scheduled international service to and from the United
States . BTS regular monthly air traffic releases include data on U.S. carrier scheduled service only. For U.S. domestic service data for 2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release BTS
December Air Traffic press release.
Total passengers on U.S. airlines and on foreign airlines to and from the United
States declined in each of the last nine
months of 2008 from the same month in 2007. The largest decline of 12.8 percent
took place in November (Table 2).
Top Airlines in 2008
Southwest Airlines carried more
total system passengers in 2008 than any other U.S. airline for the second consecutive year (Table 3). American Airlines carried more international
passengers to and from the United States in 2008 than any other U.S. or foreign carrier for the 19th consecutive year (Table 7).
America West Airlines and US
Airways now operate under a single certificate and report jointly as US
Airways. Numbers reported as US Airways
prior to October 2007 do not include America West’s numbers. See the notes for system and international
airline ranking tables 3 and 7 for America West’s 2007 passenger numbers.
Top Airports in 2008
More total system passengers
boarded planes in 2008 at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any
other U.S. airport (Table 4); and more international passengers boarded planes at New York
John F. Kennedy than at any other U.S. airport (Table 8).
For
more information on U.S. carrier domestic operations, see the BTS December air traffic press release
Flights Operated
U.S.
carriers and foreign carriers serving the United States operated 10.7 million domestic
and international flights in 2008, 4.8 percent fewer than were operated in 2007
(Table 1).
System (Domestic + International) Comparisons (Tables 1-4)
In other total system comparisons from 2007 to 2008 (Table
1):
Revenue
passenger-miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance
flown, were down 2.1 percent in 2008.
Available
seat-miles (ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and
the distance flown, were down 1.0 percent in 2008.
Passenger load
factor, passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was
down 0.9 load factor points at 78.7 percent in 2008.
Flight stage length, the average
non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 2.3 percent in 2008.
Passenger trip length, the average
distance flown per passenger, was up 1.4 percent in 2008.
Among airlines, Southwest carried 101.9
million passengers on its system in 2008, the
most of any airline (Table 3).
Among airports, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
was the busiest U.S. airport in 2008, with 43.6 million domestic
and international passenger boardings (Table 4).
International Air
Travel (Tables 5-8)
U.S. airlines and foreign airlines carried 159.1 million scheduled international
passengers in 2008, unchanged from 2007. The
passengers were carried on 1.34 million flights, down 1.5 percent from the 1.36
million flights operated in 2007 (Table 5).
U.S. airlines carried 57.5 percent of the international passengers in 2008, up from
56.9 percent in 2007 (Table 5).
International passengers on U.S. airlines and on foreign airlines to and from the United
States declined in five of the last six
months of 2008 from the same month in 2007. The largest decline of 9.6 percent
took place in November (Table 6).
In other international
comparisons from 2007 to 2008 (Table 5):
International revenue passenger-miles
(RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 0.5
percent in 2008.
International available seat-miles
(ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the
distance flown, were up 2.6 percent in 2008.
International passenger load factor,
passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was down 1.7 load
factor points to 77.5 percent in 2008.
International flight stage length,
the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 3.2 percent in 2008.
International passenger trip
length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 0.5 percent in 2008.
American carried 21.2 million international passengers in 2008, the most of any airline serving the
United
States (Table 7).
New York JFK was the busiest U.S. airport for international travel in 2008, with
10.6 million international passenger boardings (Table 8).
Reporting Notes
Data
are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial U.S. and foreign air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight
traffic. This release includes data received by BTS from 174 carriers as of April
6 for U.S. and
foreign 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.
For
additional passenger, flight, RPM, ASM, load factor and freight numbers, go to
the BTS home page and use the links in the
Airline Industry box. These tables do
not include U.S. carrier foreign point-to-point operations. For 2008,
U.S. carriers reported 2,852,076 foreign point-to-point passengers.
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
U.S. carrier
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 December and
international numbers through September 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. Complete international data will be
released on June 11.
TranStats system and international totals do not
include
U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point
flights.
Table 1: Scheduled Domestic and International Airline Travel on
U.S. and
Foreign Airlines*
Excel | CSV
Passengers (in millions) |
838.2 |
809.0 |
-3.5 |
Flights (in thousands) |
11,200.9 |
10,663.4 |
-4.8 |
Revenue Passenger Miles (in billions) |
1,096.3 |
1,073.3 |
-2.1 |
Available Seat-Miles (in billions) |
1,378.1 |
1,364.2 |
-1.0 |
Load Factor** |
79.5 |
78.7 |
-0.9 |
Flight Stage Length*** |
793.9 |
812.3 |
2.3 |
Passenger Trip Length**** |
1,307.9 |
1,326.8 |
1.4 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics,
T-100 Market and Segment
* Includes
U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service
and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States . For U.S. domestic service data for 2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release
** 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 1A. Passengers on
U.S. Carriers and on Foreign Carriers'
U.S. Flights
2007-2008
Passenger
numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
U.S. Carrier |
679.2 |
649.9 |
-4.3 |
Domestic |
90.5 |
91.5 |
1.2 |
International |
|
|
|
System |
769.6 |
741.4 |
-3.7 |
Foreign Carrier |
68.6 |
67.6 |
-1.5 |
To and From
U.S. |
|
|
|
Total |
838.2 |
809.0 |
-3.5 |
Source:
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
Table 2. Scheduled Domestic and International Enplanements by
Month on
U.S. and
Foreign Airlines*
Passenger
numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
January |
60.9 |
62.3 |
2.3 |
63.3 |
1.5 |
February |
57.8 |
58.6 |
1.4 |
61.5 |
4.9 |
March |
71.3 |
72.8 |
2.0 |
73.1 |
0.4 |
April |
68.8 |
70.4 |
2.4 |
68.7 |
-2.5 |
May |
70.1 |
72.5 |
3.5 |
71.7 |
-1.1 |
June |
73.3 |
75.9 |
3.5 |
74.0 |
-2.5 |
July |
76.1 |
79.2 |
4.0 |
76.9 |
-2.8 |
August |
72.8 |
78.0 |
7.1 |
74.2 |
-4.8 |
September |
62.2 |
64.8 |
4.2 |
59.4 |
-8.5 |
October |
66.9 |
69.8 |
4.4 |
64.9 |
-7.0 |
November |
65.3 |
67.3 |
3.0 |
58.6 |
-12.8 |
December |
66.2 |
66.6 |
0.6 |
62.6 |
-5.9 |
Yr. Total |
811.7 |
838.2 |
3.3 |
809.0 |
-3.5 |
Source: Bureau
of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
* Includes
U.S. carrier scheduled domestic
and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service
to and from the United States . For U.S. domestic service data for
2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release
Note: Percent changes based
on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 3. Top 10 Airlines, ranked by
January-December 2008 Scheduled Domestic and International Enplanements*
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Southwest |
101.921 |
1 |
101.911 |
0.0 |
2 |
American |
92.772 |
2 |
98.165 |
-5.5 |
3 |
Delta |
71.615 |
3 |
72.924 |
-1.8 |
4 |
United |
63.071 |
4 |
68.363 |
-7.7 |
5 |
US Airways** |
54.776 |
7 |
42.172 |
29.9 |
6 |
Northwest |
48.772 |
5 |
53.678 |
-9.1 |
7 |
Continental |
46.919 |
6 |
48.975 |
-4.2 |
8 |
AirTran |
24.574 |
8 |
23.741 |
3.5 |
9 |
JetBlue |
21.824 |
10 |
21.305 |
2.4 |
10 |
SkyWest |
20.668 |
9 |
22.047 |
-6.3 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
* Includes
U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service
and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States . For U.S.
domestic service data for 2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release
** US Airways' Oct-Nov 2007 and Jan-Nov 2008 numbers are
the report of the merged US Airways and America West. The Jan-Sept 2007 numbers were reported
separately by US Airways and America West. America West reported 15.657 million
system passengers in Jan-Sept 2007.
Note: Percent changes based on
numbers prior to rounding.
Table 4. Top 10 Airports ranked by
January-December 2008 Scheduled Domestic and International Enplanements on
U.S. and
Foreign Airlines*
Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlanta |
43.575 |
1 |
43.090 |
1.1 |
2 |
Chicago O'Hare |
33.602 |
2 |
36.428 |
-7.8 |
3 |
Los Angeles |
28.526 |
3 |
30.083 |
-5.2 |
4 |
Dallas/Ft.Worth |
27.070 |
4 |
28.282 |
-4.3 |
5 |
Denver |
24.280 |
5 |
24.065 |
0.9 |
6 |
New York JFK |
23.453 |
6 |
23.265 |
0.8 |
7 |
Las Vegas |
20.734 |
7 |
22.154 |
-6.4 |
8 |
Houston Bush |
19.809 |
9 |
20.721 |
-4.4 |
9 |
Phoenix |
19.405 |
8 |
20.763 |
-6.5 |
10 |
San Francisco |
18.085 |
13 |
17.271 |
4.7 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
* Includes
U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service
and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States . For U.S. domestic service data for 2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release
Note:
Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 5. International Scheduled Airline Travel on
U.S. and
Foreign Airlines*
Excel | CSV
Passengers (in millions) |
159.1 |
159.1 |
0.0 |
U.S. Carriers |
90.5 |
91.5 |
1.2 |
Foreign Carriers |
68.6 |
67.6 |
-1.5 |
Flights (in thousands) |
1,361.3 |
1,341.0 |
-1.5 |
U.S. Carriers |
862.9 |
848.2 |
-1.7 |
Foreign Carriers |
498.4 |
492.8 |
-1.1 |
Revenue Passenger Miles (in billions) |
501.7 |
504.1 |
0.5 |
U.S. Carriers |
237.1 |
244.1 |
2.9 |
Foreign Carriers |
264.6 |
260.0 |
-1.7 |
Available Seat-Miles (in billions) |
633.7 |
650.4 |
2.6 |
U.S. Carriers |
296.4 |
308.9 |
4.2 |
Foreign Carriers |
337.3 |
341.5 |
1.2 |
Load Factor** |
79.2 |
77.5 |
-1.7 |
U.S. Carriers |
80.0 |
79.0 |
-1.0 |
Foreign Carriers |
78.4 |
76.1 |
-2.3 |
Flight Stage Length*** |
2,056.4 |
2,121.3 |
3.2 |
Passenger Trip Length**** |
3,154.9 |
3,169.3 |
0.5 |
Source:
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market and Segment
* Includes
U.S. carrier scheduled international service and foreign
carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States . For U.S. carrier scheduled international service data for
2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release
** 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. International Scheduled Enplanements by Month on
U.S. and
Foreign Airlines*
Passenger
numbers in millions (000,000)
Excel | CSV
January |
12.0 |
12.3 |
2.4 |
13.0 |
5.3 |
February |
10.5 |
10.8 |
3.5 |
11.8 |
9.4 |
March |
13.0 |
13.5 |
3.7 |
14.5 |
7.1 |
April |
12.9 |
13.0 |
0.9 |
13.2 |
0.9 |
May |
12.9 |
13.2 |
2.3 |
13.8 |
4.6 |
June |
14.0 |
14.4 |
2.9 |
14.6 |
1.3 |
July |
15.2 |
15.7 |
3.0 |
15.7 |
-0.1 |
August |
14.5 |
15.3 |
5.8 |
15.4 |
0.3 |
September |
12.3 |
12.5 |
1.9 |
11.7 |
-6.8 |
October |
11.8 |
12.6 |
6.8 |
12.0 |
-4.6 |
November |
11.5 |
12.2 |
6.4 |
11.0 |
-9.6 |
December |
12.7 |
13.3 |
5.1 |
12.4 |
-6.9 |
Yr. Total |
153.3 |
159.1 |
3.7 |
159.1 |
0.0 |
Source: Bureau
of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market
* Includes
U.S. carrier scheduled
international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to
and from the United States . For U.S. carrier scheduled
international service data for 2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release
Note:
Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 7. Top 10 Airlines, ranked by
January-December 2008 International Scheduled Enplanements*
Passenger numbers in thousands (000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
American |
21,233.2 |
1 |
21,613.4 |
-1.8 |
2 |
Continental |
12,417.8 |
3 |
11,880.9 |
4.5 |
3 |
Delta |
12,339.1 |
4 |
11,430.0 |
8.0 |
4 |
United |
11,409.4 |
2 |
11,963.4 |
-4.6 |
5 |
Northwest |
10,322.9 |
5 |
9,902.6 |
4.2 |
6 |
US Airways** |
6,271.7 |
8 |
4,978.5 |
26.0 |
7 |
British Airways |
5,579.8 |
6 |
5,711.5 |
-2.3 |
8 |
Air
Canada |
5,311.2 |
7 |
5,602.9 |
-5.2 |
9 |
Lufthansa |
5,002.4 |
9 |
4,796.2 |
4.3 |
10 |
Air
France |
3,636.9 |
10 |
3,632.8 |
0.1 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market
* Includes
U.S. carrier scheduled international service and foreign
carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States . For U.S. carrier scheduled international service data for
2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release
**
US Airways' Oct-Nov 2007 and Jan-Nov 2008 numbers are
the report of the merged US Airways and America West. The Jan-Sept 2007 numbers
were reported separately by US Airways and America West. America West reported
990.3 thousand international passengers in Jan-Sept 2007.
Note:
Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.
Table 8. Top 10 Airports ranked by
January-December 2008 International Scheduled Enplanements on
U.S. and
Foreign Airlines*
Passenger numbers in thousands (000)
Excel | CSV
1 |
New York JFK |
10,872.8 |
1 |
10,576.0 |
2.8 |
2 |
Los Angeles |
7,962.4 |
2 |
8,317.0 |
-4.3 |
3 |
Miami |
7,726.6 |
3 |
7,572.3 |
2.0 |
4 |
Chicago O'Hare |
5,440.2 |
4 |
5,592.9 |
-2.7 |
5 |
Newark |
5,416.9 |
5 |
5,264.2 |
2.9 |
6 |
Atlanta |
4,572.3 |
6 |
4,449.6 |
2.8 |
7 |
San Francisco |
4,158.2 |
7 |
4,250.2 |
-2.2 |
8 |
Houston Bush |
3,820.5 |
8 |
3,757.5 |
1.7 |
9 |
Washington Dulles |
2,844.1 |
9 |
2,826.9 |
0.6 |
10 |
Dallas/Ft.Worth |
2,393.9 |
10 |
2,399.6 |
-0.2 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market
* Includes
U.S. carrier scheduled
international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to
and from the
United States . For
U.S. carrier scheduled
international service data for 2008, see the BTS December air traffic press release
Note:
Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.
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