Why, is WN not a Major?
BTS 8-08
Contact: Dave Smallen, Tel.: (202) 366-5568
Thursday, February 14, 2008
BTS Releases November 2007 Airline Traffic Data;
11-Month 2007 System Traffic Up 3.2 Percent From 2006
The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines during the first 11 months of 2007 grew by 3.2 percent from the same period in 2006, reaching 706.6 million, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported in a release of preliminary data (Table 1).
BTS, a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that in November, the most recent data month, U.S. airlines carried 59.9 million scheduled domestic and international passengers, 0.7 percent fewer than in November 2006 (Table 2). The number of domestic passengers decreased 1.5 percent in November from a year earlier and international passengers increased 5.4 percent (Tables 7, 13).
The combined domestic and international system load factor of 80.3 percent from January through November was a record for the 11-month period (Table 1). Load factor measures how much of the airlines’ passenger capacity is used.
During the first 11 months, U.S. airlines carried 22.6 million more total system passengers than during the first 11 months of 2006. U.S. airlines would carry a record number of passengers in 2007 if the growth rate over 2006 is sustained in the final month of the year.
U.S. airlines carried 3.1 percent more domestic passengers and 4.6 percent more international passengers during the first 11 months of 2007 than during the same period in 2006 (Tables 7, 13).
Top Airlines
Southwest Airlines carried more total system and more domestic passengers for the first 11 months than any other U.S. airline (Tables 3 and 9). American Airlines carried more international passengers than any U.S. carrier (Table 15).
America West Airlines and US Airways are now operating under a single certificate and are reporting jointly as US Airways for the first time. Numbers reported as US Airways in this release for previous years do not include America West’s numbers. See the notes for system, domestic and international airline ranking tables 3, 4, 9, 10, 15 and 16 for 2007 and 2006 passenger numbers previously reported for America West.
