July 2005 Airline Traffic: Seven-Month Domestic Traffic Up 5.6 Percent From 2004

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Contact BTS 45-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Friday, October 14, 2005 - U.S. airlines carried 5.6 percent more domestic passengers and flew 2.0 percent more domestic flights during the first seven months of 2005 than they did during the same period in 2004, 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 (RITA), reported that the airlines carried 389.7 million domestic passengers during the first seven months of 2005, up from the 369.0 million carried between January and July 2004 (Table 2). The passengers were carried on 5.92 million flights, up 2.0 percent from the 5.81 million flights operated in 2004 (Table 1).

In other domestic comparisons from the first seven months of 2004 to the first seven months of 2005:

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 5.6 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 2.0 percent.

Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 2.7 load factor points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 1.1 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was at 868 miles per trip, no change from the first seven months of 2004.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 51.1 million domestic passengers during the first seven months of 2005, the most of any airline (Table 3).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during the first seven months of 2005, with 22.9 million passenger boardings (Table 4).

July 2005 Airline Traffic

For the month of July 2005, U.S. airlines carried 62.2 million domestic passengers, 3.6 percent more than in July 2004 (Table 5).

These passengers were carried on 876,270 flights, down 1.0 percent from the flights operated in July 2004.

In other month-to-month domestic comparisons from July 2004 to July 2005:

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 4.2 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 2.0 percent.

Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 1.8 load factor points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 2.9 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 0.6 percent.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 8.5 million domestic passengers during July, the most of any airline (Table 6).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during July, with 3.6 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.  July traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS from 127 airlines as of Oct. 12.  Data are subject to revision.

Revised data from June 2005 and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov.  BTS will release August traffic data and revised data from July and previous months on Nov. 10.

Table 1: Domestic Airline Travel January to July

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

* The average non-stop distance flown per departure in miles

** The average distance flown per passenger in miles

Table 2: Total Industry Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 3: Top 10 Airlines, ranked by January-July 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 4: Top 10 Airports ranked by January-July 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 5: Domestic Airline Travel in July

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

* The average non-stop distance flown per departure in miles

** The average distance flown per passenger in miles

Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, ranked by July 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 7: Top 10 Airports ranked by July 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market