U.S. DOT: airline traffic up 1.2 percent

Posted by Courtney E. Howard

WASHINGTON, 11 Dec. 2011.U.S. airlines carried 58 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in Sept. 2011, marking a 1.2 percent increase over Sept. 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The Sept. 2011 passenger total was 6.0 percent above that of two years ago in Sept. 2009.

BTS officials also reported that U.S. airlines carried 1.3 percent more domestic passengers in Sept. 2011 than in Sept. 2010. The system load factor of 81.9 percent and the domestic load factor of 81.8 percent were record highs for the month. The number of international passengers on U.S. carriers in Sept. 2011 increased 0.4 percent from Sept. 2010.

U.S. airlines carried 551.8 million total system passengers during the first nine months of 2011, up 1.9 percent from the same period in 2010. Domestically, they carried 480.5 million passengers, up 1.8 percent from 2010; internationally, they carried 71.3 million passengers, up 2.7 percent from 2010.

In Sept., Delta Air Lines carried more total system and international passengers than any other U.S. airline, and Southwest Airlines carried the most domestic passengers. During the first nine months of 2011, Delta carried more total system and international passengers, while Southwest carried more domestic passengers than any other U.S. airline.

In Sept., more total system and domestic passengers boarded planes at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport; more international passengers boarded U.S. carriers at New York JFK than at any other U.S. airport.