BTS Releases February 2012 Airline Traffic Data;
System Traffic Up 6.1 Percent from February 2011  

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported yesterday that U.S. airlines carried 53.1 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in February 2012, 6.4 percent more domestic passengers and 4.4 percent more international passengers than in February 2011. These changes resulted in a systemwide increase of 6.1 percent in passengers from February 2011.  The February 2012 passenger total was 9.0 percent above that of two years ago in February 2010. Both periods benefited from the addition of an extra travel day in February 2012. 

BTS, a part of DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, also reported in a release of preliminary data that the system load factor of 76.7 percent and the domestic load factor of 78.9 percent were record highs for the month of February. 

U.S. airlines carried 107.6 million total system passengers during the first two months of 2012, up 3.7 percent from the same period in 2011. Domestically, they carried 93.5 million passengers, up 3.9 percent from 2011. Internationally, they carried 14.1 million passengers, up 1.9 percent from 2011. 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. 

Load Factor and Capacity 

The first two months of 2012 continued the trend of 2011 when the system and domestic load factors were at an all-time high while the international load factor declined from the all-time high in 2010. Domestic capacity, measured by available seat-miles, increased 4.4 percent in February 2012 compared to February 2011, while revenue passenger miles (RPMs) increased by 5.7 percent, resulting in the record domestic load factor. The international load factor in February increased as airlines grew capacity by 1.4 percent while RPMs gained by a larger 1.9 percent. Systemwide capacity was up 1.6 percent compared to a 2.9 percent increase in RPMs. See Tables 1, 7 and 13 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous year numbers. 

            See Air Traffic Release for summary tables and additional data.