BTS Releases August 2013 U.S. Airline Traffic Data; Systemwide Passengers Down 0.1 Percent from August 2012

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that U.S. airlines carried 67.7 million systemwide (domestic + international) scheduled service passengers in August 2013, 0.1 percent fewer than in August 2012. The systemwide total was the result of a 0.9 percent decrease in the number of domestic passengers (58.1 million) and a 5.5 percent increase in international passengers (9.6 million).

BTS, a part of the Department’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that U.S. airlines carried 0.4 percent more total systemwide passengers during the first eight months of 2013 (502.7 million) than during the same period in 2012. Domestically, U.S. airlines carried 435.3 million passengers, virtually unchanged from 2012. Internationally, they carried 67.4 million passengers, up 3.1 percent from 2012. See Tables 2, 8 and 14 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous-year data.

The August 2013 international load factor of 87.0 percent was a record high for the month of August as year-over-year growth in revenue passenger-miles exceeded expansion of international capacity. Systemwide and domestic load factors remained below the all-time August highs reached in 2011. Load factor is a measure of the use of aircraft capacity that compares Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) as a proportion of Available Seat-Miles (ASMs).

Top Airlines

In August, Delta Air Lines carried more systemwide passengers than any other U.S. airline. Southwest Airlines carried the most domestic passengers while United Airlines carried the most international passengers. The top 10 U.S. airlines in terms of number of passengers carried 80.5 percent of systemwide passengers, up from 79.6 percent carried by the U.S. airlines that were in the top 10 in August 2012.

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. For more historical data, see Traffic on the BTS website.

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