BTS Releases January 2014 U.S. Airline Traffic Data;

Systemwide Passengers Up 0.8 Percent from January 2013

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that U.S. airlines carried 55.8 million systemwide (domestic + international) scheduled service passengers in January 2014, 0.8 percent more than in January 2013. The systemwide total was the result of a 0.2 percent increase in the number of domestic passengers (47.9 million) and a 4.3 percent increase in international passengers (7.9 million) (Tables 1, 5, 9).

The January 2014 systemwide load factor (80.3 percent), the domestic load factor (80.7) and the international load factor (79.6) were all record highs for the month of January, topping the previous highs recorded in January 2013. Systemwide and international revenue passenger-miles (RPMs) grew faster than the rise in capacity measured by available seat-miles (ASMs). Domestic capacity fell 0.2 percent year-to-year while RPMs grew (Tables 1, 5, 9). Load factor is a measure of the use of aircraft capacity that compares RPMs as a proportion of ASMs.

The passenger total was the highest for the month of January since 2008. RPMs also reached an all-time high for January while capacity measured in ASMs remained 7.0 percent below the 2008 peak for the month of January.

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 additional U.S. carrier passenger and freight data since 1996, see Traffic on the BTS website.

Top Airlines

Monthly: In January, Delta Air Lines carried more systemwide passengers than any other U.S. airline (Table 3). Southwest Airlines carried the most domestic passengers (Table 7). United Airlines carried the most international passengers (Table 11). The top 10 U.S. airlines carried 81.1 percent of systemwide passengers, up from 80.7 percent carried by the U.S. airlines that were in the top 10 in January 2013.

Top Airports

Monthly: In January, more total systemwide passengers boarded planes at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport. More domestic passengers boarded planes at Atlanta than any other U.S. airport while more international passengers boarded U.S. carriers at Miami (Tables 4, 8, 12).

Reporting Notes

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial U.S. air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic. This release includes data received by BTS from 76 carriers as of April 1 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.

Southwest and AirTran Airways are reporting as separate carriers with the exception of their financial reports. They have one FAA SOC (single operating certificate), requiring that they utilize the same safety/operating procedures, but they have separate DOT 401 economic certificates, meaning they remain operating as separate economic entities.

Go to http://www.transtats.bts.gov/releaseinfo.asp for the complete list of reporting and non-reporting carriers. U.S. carriers' foreign point-to-point flights are included in system and international totals. To create a customized table for passengers, flights, RPMs, ASMs and other data, including non-scheduled service, go to http://apps.bts.gov/xml/air_traffic/src/index.xml#CustomizeTable

For additional scheduled service numbers for U.S. airlines, U.S. and foreign airlines, by airline and by airport, see Passengers, Flights, Revenue Passenger-Miles, Available Seat-Miles and Load Factor.

Traffic numbers are available on the BTS website at TranStats, the Intermodal Transportation Database, at http://transtats.bts.gov. Click on "Aviation." For systemwide passengers, RPMs and ASMs by carrier through January, click on "Air Carrier Summary Data (Form 41 and 298C Summary Data)," and then click on "Schedule T-1." Use crosstabs to find scheduled service.

For domestic numbers through January and international numbers through October by origin as well as by carrier, click on "Aviation," then click on "Air Carrier Statistics (Form 41 Traffic)." Click on "T-100 Market" for system passenger numbers, "T-100 Domestic Market" for domestic or "T-100 International Market" for international. For flights, stage length and trip length, use the appropriate T-100 Segment database. Use crosstabs to find scheduled service.

International totals in this press release consist of all U.S. carrier operations to and from the U.S. and from one foreign point to another foreign point. TranStats T-100 systemwide and international totals do not include U.S. carriers' foreign point-to-point flights. For January, U.S. carriers reported 182,018 foreign point-to-point passengers.

Data are subject to revision. BTS has scheduled May 15 for the release of February traffic data. None of the data are from samples so measures of statistical significance do not apply.

Table 1. Scheduled Systemwide (Domestic and International) Airline Travel on U.S. Airlines

Table 2. Total Systemwide (Domestic and International) Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Airlines

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market

Note: Percentage changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 3. Top 10 U.S. Airlines, ranked by January 2014 Scheduled Systemwide (Domestic and International) Enplanements

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market

* The merged Southwest and AirTran are now reporting separately although operating under a single certificate.

Note: Percentage changes based on numbers prior to rounding.

Table 4. Top 10 U.S. Airports, ranked by January 2014 Scheduled Systemwide (Domestic and International) Enplanements on U.S. Airlines

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Table 5. Domestic Scheduled Airline Travel on U.S. Airlines

Table 6. Domestic Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Airlines

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Table 7. Top 10 U.S. Airlines, ranked by January 2014 Domestic Scheduled Enplanements

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Table 8. Top 10 U.S. Airports, ranked by January 2014 Domestic Scheduled Enplanements

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Table 9. International Scheduled Airline Travel on U.S. Airlines

Table 10. International Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Airlines

Passenger numbers in millions (000,000)

Table 11. Top 10 U.S. Airlines, ranked by January 2014 International Scheduled Enplanements

Passenger numbers in thousands (000)

Table 12. Top 10 U.S. Airports, ranked by January 2014 International Scheduled Enplanements on U.S. Airlines

Passenger numbers in thousands (000)