U.S. airlines record significant growth in the first eight months of 2005 according to U.S Department of Transportation

U.S. airlines carried 5.2 percent more domestic passengers and flew 1.6 percent…

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) 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).

Table 1: Domestic Airline Travel January to August

	Jan-Aug. 2004	Jan-Aug. 2005	Change
Passengers	427,002,834	449,261,393	5.2%
Flights	6,721,720	6,832,172	1.6%
Revenue Passenger Miles(000)	371,409,413	390,803,131	5.2%
Available Seat Miles(000)	492,600,517	501,513,446	1.8%
Load Factor	75.4	77.9	2.5 points
Flight Stage Length*	595	602	1.2%
Passenger Trip Length**	870	870	None

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

Month	2003	2004	2005	2004 2005 Pct. Ch.
January	43,365,042	44,223,065	48,203,554	9.0
February	41,480,320	45,726,295	47,326,497	3.5
March	50,404,158	54,649,236	59,144,119	8.2
April	47,380,661	53,740,731	55,242,437	2.8
May	49,430,970	53,421,459	57,581,707	7.8
June	52,562,332	57,381,300	60,000,943	4.6
July	56,167,980	60,067,644	62,726,733	4.4
August	54,347,183	57,793,104	59,035,403	2.1
September	44,605,229	47,996,736
October	50,372,738	54,582,605
November	47,478,546	52,053,293
December	50,146,795	52,921,799
Annual Total	587,741,954	634,557,267

Jan.-Aug. Total	395,138,646	427,002,834	449,261,393	5.2

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

Table 3. Top 10 Airlines, ranked by January-August 2005 Domestic Enplanements

Jan-Aug 2005 Rank	Carrier	Jan-Aug 2005 Passengers	Jan-Aug 2004 Rank	Jan-Aug 2004 Passengers
1	Southwest	59,200,650	1	54,826,178
2	Delta	54,901,234	2	53,883,756
3	American	52,419,517	3	49,336,398
4	United	37,133,759	4	40,784,475
5	Northwest	32,495,909	5	30,997,587
6	US Airways	26,399,310	6	25,470,731
7	Continental	22,096,508	7	21,280,188
8	America West	14,137,885	8	13,443,957
9	American Eagle	11,065,308	10	9,336,644
10	AirTran	10,905,548	11	8,767,817

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

Table 4. Top 10 Airports ranked by January-August 2005 Domestic Enplanements

Jan-Aug 2005 Rank	Airport Name	Jan-Aug 2005 Passengers	Jan-Aug 2004 Rank	Jan-Aug 2004 Passengers
1	Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta	26,694,198	1	25,486,721
2	Chicago O`Hare	20,918,668	2	20,775,582
3	Dallas-Ft. Worth	17,080,335	3	17,316,303
4	Los Angeles Int`l	14,425,559	4	14,464,203
5	Las Vegas McCarran	13,776,670	6	12,902,510
6	Denver	13,556,873	5	13,391,538
7	Phoenix Sky Harbor	13,126,297	7	12,483,436
8	Minneapolis-St.Paul	11,478,800	8	10,992,663
9	Orlando	10,698,495	10	9,924,183
10	Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County	10,627,783	9	10,183,360

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

Table 5: Domestic Airline Travel in August

	Aug 2004	Aug 2005	Change
Passengers	57,793,104	59,035,403	2.1%
Flights	898,613	894,460	-0.5%
Revenue Passenger Miles(000)	51,237,919	52,460,501	2.4%
Available Seat Miles(000)	65,076,157	65,336,267	0.4%
Load Factor	78.7

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Vicky Karantzavelou

Co-Founder & Chief Editor - TravelDailyNews Media Network | + Articles

Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.