BTS Reports Decline in Airline Passenger Revenue And Rise in Freight Revenue

Contact BTS 31-02 David Smallen 202-366-5568

Tuesday, December 31, 2002 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released its monthly Transportation Indicators report showing that air carrier passenger revenue in the quarter ending in September declined from 2001 while freight revenue rose from the year before for the second consecutive quarter.

Passenger revenue, adjusted for inflation, was down 7 percent from 2001, the sixth consecutive quarter of declines over the same quarter in the previous year. Inflation-adjusted freight revenue was up 8 percent in the third quarter from the third quarter of 2001 but did not offset the decline in passenger revenue.

Airline passenger revenue in the third quarter was $9.7 billion, down from $10.4 billion in 2001. Passenger revenue reached its highest level in the second quarter of 2000 at $13.2 billion.

Freight revenue in the third quarter was $1.7 billion, up from $1.6 billion in 2001. Freight revenue reached its highest level in the fourth quarter of 2000 at $1.9 billion.

BTS has issued the Transportation Indicators report monthly since September 2000 as an update of critical transportation information that details the impact of transportation on the nation's economy and society. The December report is the final Transportation Indicators. The full report is available at www.bts.gov, where BTS data will continue to be posted regularly.

Other trends highlighted in this month's report are:

• Air carriers lost an amount equal to 5 percent of their assets for the year ending in September, the lowest 12-month yield in the 10 years tracked by this report.
• Large U.S. passenger carriers' scheduled operations increased 2 percent in October from October 2001, the first year-to-year increase since August 2001.
• The producer price of scheduled air freight transportation increased nearly 12 percent in October from October 2001- reaching the second highest level in the 10 years tracked by this report.
• The cost of air travel to consumers was 2 percent lower in October than in September.
• Employment in for-hire air transportation decreased 0.35 percent in November from October, falling to the lowest level since December 1997.
• Jet fuel prices in October reached 80 cents per gallon, the highest level since February 2001.
• Consumers spent 10 percent more on motor vehicles and parts in the third quarter of 2002 than in the previous quarter.
• The third largest monthly decline in prices for used cars and trucks in the 10 years tracked by the Indicators report took place in October as consumers spent nearly 2 percent less on used cars and trucks than in October 2001.
• Light trucks have outsold cars every month except for May since the beginning of 2002. Retail sales of cars were down 5 percent, light trucks down 12 percent, and medium/heavy trucks up 22 percent in November from November 2001.
• By the beginning of December, retail gasoline prices for all grades averaged $1.40 per gallon-a 30-cent increase from December 2001.
• Public expenditures on water transportation decreased almost 23 percent in October from October 2001-the lowest level since December 2000.
• Net petroleum imports increased 2 percent in October from October 2001, while petroleum products supplied, a proxy for consumption, fell 2 percent. Domestic production was down 4 percent.