11-Month Domestic Traffic Up 4.3 Percent From 2004
US airlines carried 4.3 percent more domestic passengers and
flew slightly fewer domestic flights during the first 11 months of
2005 than they did during the same period in 2004, the US
Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) reported Thursday, in a release of preliminary
data.
BTS, a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology
Administration (RITA), reported that the airlines carried 606.4
million domestic passengers during the first 11 months of 2005, up
from the 581.6 million carried between January and November 2004.
The passengers were carried on 9,246,862 million flights, 1,140
fewer than the 9,248,002 million flights operated in 2004.
In other domestic comparisons from the first 11 months of 2004
to the first 11 months of 2005:
- Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers
and the distance flown, were up 4.7 percent.
- Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity using the
number of seats and the distance flown, were up 1.1 percent.
- Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of
available seats, was up 2.6 load factor points.
- Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per
departure, was up 2.0 percent.
- Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per
passenger, was 867 miles per trip, up only slightly from 864 miles
the first 11 months of 2004.
- Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 81.2 million
domestic passengers during the first 11 months of 2005, the most of
any airline.
- Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Airport was the busiest US airport for domestic travel during the
first 11 months of 2005, with 35.6 million passenger
boardings.
November 2005 Airline Traffic
For the month of November 2005, US airlines carried 52.1 million
domestic passengers, 0.2 percent more than in November 2004.
These passengers were carried on 775,059 flights, down 6.2
percent from the 826,353 flights operated in November 2004.
In other month-to-month domestic comparisons from November 2004
to November 2005:
- Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers
and the distance flown, were up 2.3 percent.
- Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were down
2.2 percent.
- Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of
available seats, was up 3.3 load factor points.
- Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per
departure, was up 4.5 percent.
- Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per
passenger, was up 2.1 percent.
- Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 7.4 million domestic
passengers during November, the most of any airline.
- Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was
the busiest US airport for domestic travel in November with 3.0
million passenger boardings.
Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by
commercial air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and
freight traffic. November traffic data are preliminary and include
data received by BTS from 130 airlines as of February 14. Data are
subject to revision.
Revised data from October 2005 and previous months are posted on
the BTS website. BTS will release December traffic data, full
year totals for 2005, and revised data from November and previous
months on March 16.