Slips Over First Six Months Of 2008; June Traffic Plummets 2.7 Percent

The first of likely many reports of monthly drops in airline passenger traffic numbers was released Thursday. The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on US airlines during the first six months of 2008 declined by 0.4 percent from the same period in 2007, dropping to 378.2 million, according to the US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

That's 1.5 million fewer passengers than those who traveled over the same period in 2007. BTS reported US airlines carried 1.1 percent fewer domestic passengers during the first six months of 2008 than during the same period in 2007. Conversely, airlines carried 5.1 percent more international passengers during the same period... reflecting not only the slumping US economy, but also airlines' efforts to cut domestic capacity while at the same time increasing the volume of more profitable international flights.

In June, the most recent data month, US airlines carried 67.8 million scheduled domestic and international passengers, 2.7 percent less than in June 2007, the fourth consecutive monthly decline from the same month of the previous year. The number of domestic passengers decreased 3.3 percent in June from a year earlier and international passengers increased 2.4 percent.

US airlines carried 2.3 percent fewer scheduled domestic and international passengers in the second quarter than in the April-June period a year ago. The number of domestic passengers decreased 3.0 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier and international passengers increased 3.4 percent.

The combined domestic and international system load factor of 79.3 percent for January through June was down 0.4 load factor points from last year's record for the six-month period.

Southwest Airlines carried more total system and more domestic passengers for the first six months than any other US airline, while American Airlines carried more international passengers than any other US carrier.

US carriers operated 5.2 million domestic and international flights in the first six months of 2008, 1.7 percent fewer than were operated during the same period in 2007. Domestic flights decreased 1.9 percent from the previous year while international flights were up 1.4 percent.

In June, US airlines operated 885,800 scheduled domestic and international flights, down 2.0 percent from the number of flights operated in June 2007. The number of domestic flights decreased 2.2 percent in June from a year earlier while international flights were up 0.1 percent.

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