BTS 55-12
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Contact: Dave Smallen
Tel: 202-366-5568 

BTS Releases August 2012 Airline Traffic Data;
System Traffic Unchanged from August 2011  

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that U.S. airlines carried 66.3 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in August 2012, 0.2 percent fewer domestic passengers and 1.1 percent more international passengers than in August 2011. There was no systemwide change in air traffic compared to August 2011 but the airlines carried 0.1 percent more system passengers than in August 2010. 

 

Although the number of passengers in the most recent month, August, was unchanged from a year ago, U.S. airlines carried 499.3 million total system passengers during the first eight months of 2012, up 1.0 percent from the same period in 2011. Domestically, the airlines carried 434.1 million passengers, up 1.0 percent from 2011. Internationally, they carried 65.3 million passengers, up 1.6 percent from 2011. See Tables 2, 8 and 14 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous year numbers.

Additional traffic numbers can be found on the BTS website in the Airlines and Airports box.  Click on a link in the column on the right.  For more historical numbers, see Traffic on the BTS website.

Load Factor and Capacity

Passenger load factors for domestic, international and system passenger traffic were at record levels for the month of August. Following earlier service reductions, domestic capacity, measured by available seat-miles, was up 0.1 percent in August 2012 compared to August 2011. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) increased by 1.4 percent. The international load factor in August increased as airlines decreased capacity by 0.2 percent while RPMs increased by 0.7 percent. Systemwide capacity was unchanged compared to a 1.2 percent increase in RPMs. See Tables 1, 7 and 13 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous year numbers.

Top Airlines

Monthly: In August, the combined Southwest Airlines-AirTran Airways carried more system and domestic passengers than any other U.S. airline.  United Airlines, following its merger with Continental Airlines, carried the most international passengers. The top 10 U.S. airlines carried 84.3 percent of systemwide passengers, up from 75.6 percent carried by the U.S. airlines that were the top 10 in August 2011. 

            See Air Traffic Release for summary tables and additional data. 

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