BTS 10-16 Advisory

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568

 

BTS Statistical Release: November 2015 U.S. Airline Traffic Data

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that U.S. airlines’ systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service load factor – a measure of the use of airline capacity – fell to 83.8 percent in November, seasonally adjusted, after reaching a record high in October. Seasonal adjustment allows the comparing of monthly load factors to all other months.

 

Load factor is a measure of the use of aircraft capacity that compares the system use, measured in Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) as a proportion of system capacity, measured in Available Seat-Miles (ASMs).

 

The seasonally-adjusted load factor fell from October (85.0) to November (83.8) because system capacity grew (0.2 percent increase in ASMs) while passenger travel declined (1.2 percent decline in RPMs).

 

Trends:

            Seasonally-adjusted

November was the first month since February in which passenger enplanements did not reach a seasonally-adjusted all-time high. November enplanements declined 0.8 percent from October but were still the second highest all-time. RPMs declined 1.2 percent from the October all-time monthly high but were still the fourth highest all-time.

 

November capacity was virtually equal to the all-time high in August. The November load factor (83.8) was down from the October all-time high (85.0).

 

Unadjusted

Systemwide: November load factor (82.4) was the highest for the month of November, up from the previous November high set in both 2011 and 2012 (81.9). The number of passengers, RPMs and ASMs all reached record highs for any November.

 

Domestic: November load factor (84.2) was the highest for the month of November, up from the previous November high set in 2011 (83.5). The number of passengers and RPMs reached record highs for any November while ASMs were below the November high set in 2007.

 

International: November load factor (78.1) was down from the all-time November high set in 2012 (79.6). The number of passengers and RPMs reached record highs for any November while ASMs were below the November high set in 2014.

 

For the first 11 months of 2015, January through November, systemwide load factor (83.9) was the highest period, up from the all-time high set in 2014 (83.5). The number of systemwide passengers, RPMs and ASMs all reached record highs for the first 11 months of any year.

 

See Air Traffic Release for summary tables and additional data. Additional traffic data can be found on the BTS Airlines and Airports page. Click on a link in the Quick Links box on the right. See Load factor, RPMs, ASMs  and Passengers. For more historical data, see Traffic on the BTS website. See Seasonal Adjustment for methodology and additional explanation. See data for airline data since 2000 as well as seasonally-adjusted data for rail, transit, pipelines, trucking and waterways.

 

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