BTS 59-12
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Contact: Dave Smallen
Tel: 202-366-5568 

BTS Releases September 2012 Airline Traffic Data;
System Passengers Decline 1.1% from September 2011  

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that U.S. airlines carried 57.4 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in September 2012, 1.7 percent fewer domestic passengers and 2.8 percent more international passengers than in September 2011. There was a 1.1 percent decrease in airline passengers in September 2012 compared to September 2011 but the airlines carried 0.1 percent more system passengers than in September 2010. 

 

Although the number of passengers in September 2012, declined from a year ago, U.S. airlines carried 559.2 million total system passengers during the first nine months of 2012, up 1.3 percent from the same period in 2011 (Table 2). Domestically, the airlines carried 486.5 million passengers, up 1.2 percent from 2011 (Table 8). Internationally, they carried 72.7 million passengers, up 1.9 percent from 2011 (Table 14). See Tables 2, 8 and 14 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous-year data.

Additional traffic data 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 data, see Traffic on the BTS website.

Load Factor and Capacity

Passenger load factors for international (83.6) passenger traffic were at record levels for the month of September while domestic (80.7) and systemwide (81.5) load factors declined from a year ago (Tables 1, 7, 13). Continuing earlier service reductions, domestic capacity, measured by available seat-miles, was down 0.2 percent in September 2012 compared to September 2011. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) declined by 1.6 percent (Table 7). The international load factor in September rose with 2.2 percent growth in RPMs compared to an increase in capacity of 0.2 percent (Table 13). Systemwide capacity declined 0.1 percent compared to a 0.4 percent decline in RPMs (Table 1). See Tables 1, 7 and 13 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous year data. 

Top Airlines

Monthly: In September 2012, Delta Air Lines carried more system passengers than any other U.S. airline (Table 4) and Southwest Airlines carried the most domestic passengers (Table 10).  United Airlines, following its merger with Continental Airlines, carried the most international passengers (Table 16). The top 10 U.S. airlines in terms of numbers of passengers carried 80.2 percent of systemwide passengers, up from 75.2 percent carried by the U.S. airlines that were in the top 10 in September 2011.

            See Air Traffic Release for summary tables and additional data. 

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