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RESEARCH AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATION
BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS

The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines and on flights to and from the United States on foreign airlines declined in 2009 by 5.3 percent from 2008, dropping to 769.6 million, the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported (Table 1).

BTS, a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, in a release of preliminary data, reported that U.S. airlines carried 5.3 percent fewer total system passengers in 2009 than in 2008.  U.S. airlines carried 5.2 percent fewer domestic passengers in 2009 and 6.3 percent fewer international passengers than in 2008. Passengers to and from the United States on foreign carriers decreased 4.8 percent from 2008 (Table 1A).

This release includes data on U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States .  BTS regular monthly air traffic releases include data on U.S. carrier scheduled service only.  For U.S. domestic service data for 2009, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

Total passengers on U.S. airlines and on foreign airlines to and from the United States declined from the same month in 2008 in 10 of the 12 months. The largest decline of 12.4 percent took place in February. During the first six months of 2009, the number of passengers declined 9.0 percent from the same period in 2008.  During the last six months, the decline was 1.4 percent (Table 2).

Top Airlines in 2009

Southwest Airlines carried more total system passengers in 2009 than any other U.S. airline for the third consecutive year (Table 3).  American Airlines carried more international passengers to and from the United States in 2009 than any other U.S. or foreign carrier for the 20th consecutive year (Table 7).

Top Airports in 2009

More total system passengers boarded planes in 2009 at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport (Table 4); and more international passengers boarded planes at New York John F. Kennedy than at any other U.S. airport (Table 8).

For more information on U.S. carrier domestic operations, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

Flights Operated

U.S. carriers and foreign carriers serving the United States operated 10.0 million domestic and international flights in 2009, 6.6 percent fewer than operated in 2008 (Table 1).

System (Domestic + International) Comparisons (Tables 1-4)

In other total system comparisons from 2008 to 2009 (Table 1):

Revenue passenger-miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were down 4.8 percent in 2009.

Available seat-miles (ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the distance flown, were down 5.4 percent in 2009.

Passenger load factor, passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was up 0.5 load factor points at 79.1 percent in 2009.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was unchanged in 2009.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 0.5 percent in 2009.

Among airlines, Southwest carried 101.3 million passengers on its system in 2009, the most of any airline (Table 3).

Among airports, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson was the busiest U.S. airport in 2009, with 42.1 million domestic and international passenger boardings (Table 4).

International Air Travel (Tables 5-8)

U.S. airlines and foreign airlines carried 151.5 million scheduled international passengers in 2009, down 5.6 percent from 2008. The passengers were carried on 1.27 million flights, down 6.5 percent from the 1.36 million flights operated in 2008 (Table 5). U.S. and foreign airlines operated 623,640 flights into the United States from foreign airports and 624,771 flights from U.S. airports to foreign destinations.  U.S. airlines operated an additional 23,489 foreign-to-foreign flights.

U.S. airlines carried 56.6 percent of the international passengers in 2009, down from 57.1 percent in 2008 (Table 5).

International passengers on U.S. airlines and on foreign airlines to and from the United States declined in all months of 2009 from the same month in 2008 except in December. The largest decline of 13.4 percent took place in the month of May (Table 6).

In other international comparisons from 2008 to 2009 (Table 5):

International revenue passenger-miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were down 4.4 percent in 2009.

International available seat-miles (ASMs), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the distance flown, were down 4.0 percent in 2009.

International passenger load factor, passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was down 0.3 load factor points to 77.1 percent in 2009.

International flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 1.2 percent in 2009.

International passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 1.3 percent in 2009.

American carried 19.6 million international passengers in 2009, the most of any airline serving the United States (Table 7).

New York JFK was the busiest U.S. airport for international travel in 2009, with 10.7 million international passenger boardings (Table 8).

View full report (BTS.com): Summary 2009 Traffic Data for U.S. and Foreign Airlines
Download full report (PDF): Summary 2009 Traffic Data for U.S. and Foreign Airlines

About the Bureau of Transportation Statistics
www.bts.gov
“The BTS mission is to create, manage, and share transportation statistical knowledge with public and private transportation communities and the Nation.  The main purpose of BTS’ work is to help advance the DOT Strategic Plan (2006-2011). But we also aim to anticipate future needs and policy issues. Our challenge is to develop data and analyses that are relevant, high quality, timely, comparable, complete, and accessible-our strategic goals for transportation statistics.”

Tags: Air travel, Airplanes, airports, BTS, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, RITA

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