August 2005 Airline Traffic: Eight-Month Domestic Traffic Up 5.2 Percent From 2004

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Contact BTS 52-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, November 10, 2005 — U.S. airlines carried 5.2 percent more domestic passengers and flew 1.6 percent more domestic flights during the first eight 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 449.3 million domestic passengers during the first eight months of 2005, up from the 427.0 million carried between January and August 2004 (Table 2). The passengers were carried on 6.83 million flights, up 1.6 percent from the 6.72 million flights operated in 2004 (Table 1).

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

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 5.2 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 1.8 percent.

Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 2.5 load factor points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 1.3 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was 870 miles per trip, no change from the first eight months of 2004.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 59.2 million domestic passengers during the first eight 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 eight months of 2005, with 26.7 million passenger boardings (Table 4).

August 2005 Airline Traffic

For the month of August 2005, U.S. airlines carried 59.0 million domestic passengers, 2.1 percent more than in August 2004 (Table 5) .

These passengers were carried on 894,460 flights, down 0.5 percent from the 898,613 flights operated in August 2004.

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

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 2.4 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 0.4 percent.

Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 1.6 load factor points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 1.9 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 0.2 percent.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 8.1 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 August , with 3.4 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 130 airlines as of Nov. 8. Data are subject to revision.

Revised data from July 2005 and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov . BTS will release September traffic data and revised data from August and previous months on Dec. 15.

Table 1: Domestic Airline Travel January to August

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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-August 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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

Table 4: Top 10 Airports Ranked by January-August 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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

Table 5: Domestic Airline Travel in August

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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 August 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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

Table 7: Top 10 Airports Ranked by August 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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