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BTS 08-14 Advisory
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Contact: Dave Smallen
Tel: 202-366-5568

BTS Releases November 2013 U.S. Airline Traffic Data;

Systemwide Passengers Down 2.2 Percent from November 2012

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that U.S. airlines carried 57.5 million systemwide (domestic + international) scheduled service passengers in November 2013, 2.2 percent fewer than in November 2012. The systemwide total was the result of a 2.7 percent decrease in the number of domestic passengers (50.4 million) and a 2.2 percent increase in international passengers (7.0 million).

BTS reported that U.S. airlines carried 0.4 percent more total systemwide passengers during the first 11 months of 2013 (680.3 million) than during the same period in 2012. Domestically, U.S. airlines carried 590.9 million passengers, virtually unchanged from 2012. Internationally, they carried 89.3 million passengers, up 3.0 percent from 2012. See Tables 2, 8 and 14 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous-year data.

Systemwide, domestic and international load factors declined in November 2013 from a year earlier. Systemwide and domestic Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) declined while capacity, measured by Available Seat-Miles (ASMs), rose. Growth in international capacity exceeded RPM growth. Load factor is a measure of the use of aircraft capacity that compares RPMs as a proportion of ASMs.

Top Airlines

In November, Southwest Airlines carried more systemwide and domestic passengers than any other U.S. airline. United Airlines carried the most international passengers. The top 10 U.S. airlines in terms of number of passengers carried 80.7 percent of systemwide passengers, up from 80.2 percent carried by the U.S. airlines that were in the top 10 in November 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.