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BTS Releases November Airline Traffic Data;
November 2003 Domestic Traffic Up 4.5 Percent From November 2002
BTS 03-04
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Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
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Thursday, February 26, 2004 - The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported, in a release of preliminary data, that U.S. airlines carried 46.3 million domestic passengers in November, 4.5 percent more than in November
2002 (Table 1).
These passengers were carried on 778,972 flights, down 5.4 percent from the flights operated in November 2002.
In other domestic comparisons from November 2002 to November 2003:
- Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance
flown, were up 9.4 percent.
- Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 3.4 percent.
- Load factor, a measure of how many seats are sold and used, was up 3.8 percentage points.
- Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance, was up 6.9 percent.
- Passenger trip length, the average distance passengers travel, was up 4.7 percent.
Commuter and small certificated carriers began reporting traffic data in October 2002, providing the first complete picture of monthly airline travel. BTS is making comparisons only for the months since October 2002 since earlier numbers are not
comparable (Table 2).
Among airlines, Delta Airlines carried 6.2 million domestic passengers in November, the most of any
airline. (Table 3).
Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta continued in November to be the busiest domestic airport, with 2.9 million passenger
boardings (Table 4).
Table 1. Domestic Airline Travel in November
Excel |
CSV
| Passengers |
44,270,732 |
46,255,652 |
| Flights |
823,070 |
778,972 |
| Revenue Passenger Miles (000) |
35,824,746 |
39,176,480 |
| Available Seat-Miles (000) |
53,730,045 |
55,561,112 |
| Load factor |
66.68% |
70.51% |
| Flight stage length |
567 |
606 |
| Passenger trip length |
809 |
847 |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market and Segment
Table 2. Total Industry Domestic Enplanements
Excel |
CSV
| January |
* |
43,436,180 |
| February |
* |
41,529,612 |
| March |
* |
50,475,122 |
| April |
* |
47,559,033 |
| May |
* |
49,582,440 |
| June |
* |
52,699,681 |
| July |
* |
56,215,910 |
| August |
* |
54,356,366 |
| September |
* |
44,362,049 |
| October |
48,322,274 |
49,464,777 |
| November |
44,270,732 |
46,255,652 |
| December |
49,927,814 |
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* Comparable numbers are not available for earlier months.
Source: T-100 Domestic Market
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."
Table 3. Top 10 Airlines, ranked by November 2003 Domestic Enplanements
Excel |
CSV
| 1 |
Delta Airlines |
5,747,360 |
6,675,188 |
6,240,097 |
2 |
| 2 |
Southwest Airlines |
5,601,948 |
6,280,808 |
6,013,106 |
3 |
| 3 |
American Airlines |
5,840,822 |
6,004,427 |
5,449,401 |
1 |
| 4 |
United Airlines |
4,385,278 |
4,688,073 |
4,391,521 |
4 |
| 5 |
Northwest Airlines |
3,310,804 |
3,648,275 |
3,393,827 |
5 |
| 6 |
US Airways |
3,055,777 |
3,226,481 |
3,088,498 |
6 |
| 7 |
Continental Airlines |
2,411,641 |
2,530,875 |
2,493,280 |
7 |
| 8 |
America West Airlines |
1,514,938 |
1,609,313 |
1,499,507 |
8 |
| 9 |
Alaska Airlines |
899,258 |
1,045,731 |
1,042,001 |
9 |
| 10 |
American Eagle Airlines |
871,209 |
1,046,048 |
1,014,337 |
10 |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market
Table 4. Top 10 Airports ranked by November 2003 Domestic Enplanements
Excel |
CSV
| 1 |
Hartsfield-Jackson International |
2,807,774 |
3,160,157 |
2,928,908 |
1 |
| 2 |
O’Hare International |
2,151,175 |
2,325,878 |
2,185,353 |
2 |
| 3 |
Dallas-Ft. Worth International |
1,724,746 |
1,942,219 |
1,941,839 |
3 |
| 4 |
Los Angeles International |
1,506,265 |
1,563,525 |
1,551,266 |
4 |
| 5 |
Las Vegas McCarran International |
1,192,450 |
1,487,518 |
1,354,860 |
6 |
| 6 |
Phoenix Sky Harbor International |
1,338,485 |
1,411,875 |
1,337,482 |
5 |
| 7 |
Denver International |
1,142,578 |
1,454,966 |
1,283,002 |
7 |
| 8 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul International |
1,061,448 |
1,254,637 |
1,143,053 |
10 |
| 9 |
Detroit Metro Wayne International |
1,093,517 |
1,239,763 |
1,137,928 |
8 |
| 10 |
George Bush Intercontinental |
1,065,492 |
1,121,251 |
1,099,952 |
9 |
Source: T-100 Domestic Market
Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by commercial air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic. November 2003 traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS from 135 airlines as of Feb. 23.
Data are subject to revision.
Revised data from October and previous months are posted on the BTS website
at http://transtats.bts.gov. BTS will release December
traffic numbers on Mar. 11.
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