BTS Statistics Release: 2016 Traffic Data for U.S Airlines and Foreign Airlines U.S. Flights

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BTS 17-17

Monday, March 27, 2016

Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568

david.smallen@dot.gov

 

BTS Releases: 2016 Traffic Data for U.S Airlines and Foreign Airlines U.S. Flights

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that U.S. airlines and foreign airlines serving the United States carried an all-time high of 928.9 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in 2016, 3.5 percent more than the previous record high of 897.9 million reached in 2015. The systemwide increase was the result of a 3.3 percent rise from 2015 in the number of passengers on domestic flights (719.0 million in 2016) and 4.0 percent growth from 2015 in passengers on U.S. and foreign airlines’ flights to and from the U.S. (209.9 million in 2016) (Tables 1, 1A, 5).

 

Fig1 

SOURCE for Recession Dates: National Bureau of Economic Research, US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions

 

 

U.S. airlines carried 3.3 percent more passengers on domestic flights and 1.7 percent more passengers on international flights in 2016 than in 2015 for a systemwide increase of 3.1 percent. Foreign airlines carried 6.3 percent more passengers to and from the United States than in 2015. The 209.9 million passengers on international flights to and from the United States was a record high, exceeding the previous high set in 2015 (Tables 1A, 1B, 5).

 

This annual release includes preliminary data on U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service, including from one foreign point to another foreign point, 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 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

 

Airlines with Most Passengers in 2016

Southwest Airlines carried more total system passengers in 2016 than any other U.S. airline. American Airlines carried more passengers on international flights to and from the U.S. in 2016 than any other U.S. or foreign carrier. British Airways carried the most passengers on flights to and from the U.S. of any foreign airline (Tables 3 and 7).

 

U.S. Airports with Most Passengers in 2016

More total system passengers boarded planes in 2016 at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport. More passengers boarded international flights at New York John F. Kennedy than at any other U.S. airport (Tables 4 and 8).

 

Load Factor and Capacity

From 2015 to 2016, systemwide demand, measured in Revenue Passenger-Miles, (RPMs), grew by 4.7 percent while capacity, measured in Available Seat-Miles (ASMs), grew by 5.0 percent. As a result, load factor, measure of the use of the capacity, fell by 0.2 percent (Table 1). 

 

Demand on international flights, measured in RPMs, rose 4.7 percent in 2016, less than the 4.8 percent rise in capacity measured in ASMs. The result was a decline in the international load factor to 80.5 from 80.6 in 2015 (Table 5).

 

For annual airline and airport statistics, Tables 1 through 4 provide combined domestic and international travel statistics, and Tables 5 through 8 provide international travel statistics.

 

Reporting Notes

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial U.S. and foreign air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic. This release includes data received by BTS from 207 carriers as of March 13 for U.S. and foreign carrier scheduled civilian operations. See the complete list of reporting and non-reporting carriers. Figure 1 numbers begin with 2003, the first full year of data following a reporting change that went into effect in October 2002.

  

For additional passenger, flight, Revenue Passenger-Miles, Available Seat-Miles, load factor and freight numbers, go to the Airlines and Airports page and use the Quick Links. International totals and results for foreign carriers may differ from the press release until the next database update scheduled for April 13. Also, the web tables do not include U.S. carrier foreign point-to-point operations. For 2016, U.S. carriers reported 1,144,651 foreign point-to-point passengers.

 

To create a customized table for U.S. carrier passengers, flights, RPMs, ASMs and other data, including non-scheduled service, go to BTS Air Carrier Traffic Statistics.

 

Additional traffic numbers are available on the BTS website at TranStats. Click on “Aviation.”  For U.S. carrier system passengers, RPMs and ASMs by carrier through December, click on “Air Carrier Summary Data (Form 41 and 298C Summary Data),” and then click on “Schedule T-1.” Use crosstabs to find scheduled service.

 

For domestic numbers through December and international numbers through September by origin as well as by carrier, after clicking on “Aviation,” click on “Air Carrier Statistics (Form 41 Traffic).” Click on “T-100 Market” for system passenger numbers, “T-100 Domestic Market” for domestic or “T-100 International Market” for international. For flights, stage length and trip length, use the appropriate T-100 Segment database. Use crosstabs to find scheduled service. Complete international data for the full year 2015 will be released on June 15.

 

TranStats T-100 system and international totals do not include U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point flights. None of the data are from samples so measures of statistical significance do not apply. Data in this press release are not seasonally adjusted.

 

Table 1. Travel on U.S. Carriers and on Foreign Carriers' U.S. Flights*

 

Annual

2015

2016

Change %

Passengers (in millions)

897.9

928.9

3.5

Flights (in thousands)

9544.7

9702.7

1.7

Revenue Passenger Miles (in billions)

1300.4

1361.0

4.7

Available Seat-Miles (in billions)

1573.0

1651.0

5.0

Load Factor**

82.7

82.4

-0.2

Flight Stage Length***

944.9

959.4

1.5

Passenger Trip Length****

1448.3

1465.1

1.2

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market and Segment

* Includes U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. For U.S. carrier domestic and international service data for 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

** Change in load factor points

***The average non-stop distance flown per departure in miles

**** The average distance flown per passenger in miles

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 

Table 1A. Annual Enplanements on U.S. Carriers and on Foreign Carriers' U.S. Flights 2015-2016

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

 

2015

2016

Change %

U.S. Carrier

Domestic

696.0

719.0

3.3

 

International

102.2

103.9

1.7

 

System

798.2

823.0

3.1

Foreign Carrier

To and From U.S.

99.7

106.0

6.3

Total

 

897.9

928.9

3.5

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market

 

 

Table 1B. 2016 Passengers on U.S. and Foreign Airlines by Origin and Destination

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

 

Destination

Domestic

Foreign

Origin

Domestic

U.S. Carriers

719.0

U.S. Carriers

51.5

Foreign Carriers

N/A

Foreign Carriers

53.2

Foreign

U.S. Carriers

51.5

U.S. Carriers

1.1

Foreign Carriers

54.2

Foreign Carriers*

N/A

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market (All Carriers)

* Foreign carriers do not report to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on flights without a U.S. origin or destination

 

 

Table 2. Monthly Enplanements on U.S. Carriers and on Foreign Carriers' U.S. Flights*

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

 

2014

2015

2014-2015 Pct. Change

2016

2015-2016 Pct. Change

January

62.8

65.3

3.9

69.1

5.7

February

58.2

60.6

4.2

65.6

8.3

March

73.5

76.0

3.4

79.1

4.0

April

70.9

73.8

4.2

75.6

2.4

May

74.3

77.5

4.3

80.7

4.2

June

76.7

80.1

4.5

84.3

5.2

July

80.7

85.5

5.9

87.5

2.4

August

78.6

82.8

5.4

83.9

1.4

September

67.6

72.2

6.7

74.8

3.6

October

72.2

77.2

6.9

78.2

1.4

November

66.4

72.1

8.5

74.4

3.2

December

71.4

74.8

4.8

75.7

1.2

Yr. Total

853.3

897.9

5.2

928.9

3.5

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market

* Includes U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. For U.S. carrier domestic and international service data for 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 

Table 3. Airlines Ranked by U.S.-Based 2016 Scheduled Domestic and International Enplanements*

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

2016 Rank

Carrier

2016 Enplaned Passengers

2015 Rank

2015 Enplaned Passengers

Pct. Change 2015-2016

1

Southwest

151.7

2

144.6

5.0

2

American**

144.2

1

146.5

-1.6

3

Delta

143.1

3

138.6

3.2

4

United

100.1

4

95.3

5.0

5

JetBlue

38.2

5

35.1

9.0

6

SkyWest

31.2

6

30.1

3.7

7

Alaska

24.4

9

22.8

6.8

8

ExpressJet

22.2

8

26.0

-14.7

9

Spirit

21.0

10

17.6

19.1

10

Frontier

14.8

12

12.6

17.5

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market

* Includes U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. For U.S. carrier domestic and international service data for 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

** American Airlines 2015 passenger number includes 28.256 million passengers reported as US Airways from Jan-Jun 2015

Note: Percentage changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 

Table 4. U.S. Airports ranked by 2016 Scheduled Domestic and International Enplanements on U.S. and Foreign Airlines*

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

2016 Rank

Airport

2016 Enplaned Passengers

2015 Rank

2015 Enplaned Passengers

Pct. Change 2015-2016

1

Atlanta

50.448

1

49.320

2.3

2

Los Angeles

39.268

2

36.438

7.8

3

Chicago O'Hare

37.298

3

36.247

2.9

4

Dallas/Fort Worth

31.233

4

31.569

-1.1

5

New York JFK

28.873

5

27.915

3.4

6

Denver

28.208

6

26.251

7.5

7

San Francisco

25.540

7

24.226

5.4

8

Las Vegas

22.568

9

21.640

4.3

9

Seattle

21.787

13

20.126

8.2

10

Charlotte

21.439

8

21.895

-2.1

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market

* Includes U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. For U.S. carrier domestic and international service data for 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 

Table 5. International Travel on U.S. Carriers and on Foreign Carriers' U.S. Flights*

 

Annual

2015

2016

Change %

Passengers (in millions)

201.9

209.9

4.0

Flights (in thousands)

1,483.5

1,519.7

2.4

Revenue Passenger Miles (in billions)

669.3

700.5

4.7

Available Seat-Miles (in billions)

830.3

870.3

4.8

Load Factor*

80.6

80.5

-0.1

Flight Stage Length**

2,333.6

2,360.7

1.2

Passenger Trip Length***

3,315.3

3,337.6

0.7

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market and Segment

* Includes U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. For U.S. carrier domestic and international service data for 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

** Change in load factor points                                                                                                                                      

*** The average non-stop distance flown per departure in miles

**** The average distance flown per passenger in miles

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 

Table 6. Monthly International Enplanements on U.S. Carriers and on Foreign Carriers' U.S. Flights*

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

 

2014

2015

2014-2015 Pct. Change

2016

2015-2016 Pct. Change

January

14.9

15.6

4.8

16.6

6.5

February

12.6

13.4

6.3

14.5

8.1

March

15.8

16.5

4.3

17.5

6.3

April

15.6

16.1

3.3

16.7

3.5

May

16.4

17.2

4.9

18.0

4.3

June

17.4

18.3

5.0

19.5

6.5

July

18.9

20.3

7.4

21.4

5.1

August

18.8

20.0

6.4

20.4

2.1

September

15.1

16.2

7.3

16.2

-0.2

October

15.1

16.3

7.9

16.5

1.5

November

13.8

14.9

8.0

15.1

1.2

December

15.9

17.0

6.5

17.5

3.1

Yr. Total

190.5

201.9

6.0

209.9

4.0

 

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

* Includes U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. For U.S. carrier domestic and international service data for 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 

Table 7. Airlines Ranked by 2016 International Scheduled Enplanements to and from the U.S.*

Passenger numbers in thousands (000)

2016 Rank

Carrier

2016 Enplaned Passengers

2015 Rank

2015 Enplaned Passengers

Pct. Change 2015-2016

1

American**

27,565.0

1

28,489.6

-3.2

2

United

26,338.9

2

26,147.9

0.7

3

Delta

24,078.4

3

23,687.3

1.7

4

JetBlue

7,018.4

5

6,266.3

12.0

5

British Air

6,515.6

4

7,068.3

-7.8

6

Lufthansa

5,695.1

6

5,529.8

3.0

7

WestJet

4,580.5

7

4,340.5

5.5

8

Air Canada

4,013.5

8

3,856.8

4.1

9

Virgin Atlantic

3,626.5

9

3,589.1

1.0

10

Air France

3,508.3

10

3,574.3

-1.8

 

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

* Includes U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. For U.S. carrier domestic and international service data for 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

** American Airlines 2015 international passenger number includes 3,478.9 thousand passengers reported as US Airways from Jan-Jun 2015.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

 

 

Table 8. U.S. Airports Ranked by 2016 International Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Carriers and on Foreign Carriers' U.S. Flights *

Passenger numbers in thousands (000)

2016 Rank

Airport

2016 Enplaned Passengers

2015 Rank

2015 Enplaned Passengers

Pct. Change 2015-2016

1

New York JFK

15,378.7

1

14,778.3

4.1

2

Los Angeles

10,758.7

3

9,883.7

8.9

3

Miami

9,799.3

2

10,109.9

-3.1

4

Newark

5,881.1

4

5,794.2

1.5

5

San Francisco

5,864.6

6

5,442.5

7.8

6

Chicago O'Hare

5,805.0

5

5,710.6

1.7

7

Atlanta

5,569.4

7

5,411.1

2.9

8

Houston Bush

5,247.8

8

5,142.8

2.0

9

Dallas/Fort Worth

3,867.0

9

3,765.9

2.7

10

Washington Dulles

3,548.4

10

3,484.8

1.8

 

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

* Includes U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. For U.S. carrier domestic and international service data for 2016, see the BTS December Air Traffic press release.

Note: Percent changes based on numbers prior to rounding.