BTS Releases September 2011 Airline Traffic Data; System Traffic Up 1.2 Percent from September 2010
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported in a release of preliminary data that U.S. airlines carried 58.0 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in September 2011. This is a 1.2 percent increase over September 2010. The September 2011 passenger total was 6.0 percent above that of two years ago in September 2009.
BTS, a part of DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, also reported that U.S. airlines carried 1.3 percent more domestic passengers in September 2011 than in September 2010. The system load factor of 81.9 percent and the domestic load factor of 81.8 percent were record highs for the month of September. The number of international passengers on U.S. carriers in September 2011 increased 0.4 percent from September 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. Systemwide, domestic and international totals were all the highest for January through September since 2008. See Tables 2, 8 and 14 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous year numbers.
Additional traffic numbers 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 historic numbers, see Traffic on the BTS website.
See Air Traffic Release for summary tables and additional data.