U.S. Air Travel Declines for 10th Consecutive Month

The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines in December 2008 declined by 5.7 percent from December 2007, dropping by 3.4 million to 57.4 million, the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported.

December was the 10th consecutive month with a decrease in passengers from 2007. BTS, a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, in a release of preliminary data, reported that U.S. airlines carried 5.7 percent fewer domestic passengers than in December 2007.

International passengers on U.S. carriers decreased 5.6 percent. For the full year of 2008, the number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines declined by 3.7 percent from 2007, dropping to 741.4 million, 28.2 million less than a year earlier. It was the first year-to-year decline since 2002 and the fewest number of annual system passengers since 2005.

U.S. airlines carried 4.3 percent fewer domestic passengers and 1.2 percent more international passengers during 2008 than in 2007. The combined domestic and international system load factor of 79.5 percent in 2008 was down 0.4 load factor points from last year’s record for the year.

Load factor measures the use of the airlines’ passenger capacity. In December, the system load factor was 78.5 percent, up 2.1 points from December in 2007. The domestic load factor was 79.1 percent, up 3.5 points from December 2007. The international load factor at 77.1 percent was down 1.4 points from December 2007.

Domestic flights decreased 5.2 percent from the previous year while international flights were down 1.7 percent. In December, U.S. airlines operated 786,200 scheduled domestic and international flights, down 10.3 percent from the number of flights operated in December 2007.

The number of domestic flights decreased 10.6 percent in December from a year earlier while international flights were down 7.0 percent. Revenue passenger-miles (RPMs), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were down 2.2 percent in 2008.

U.S. airlines carried 649.9 million scheduled domestic passengers in 2008, down 4.3 percent from the 679.2 million carried in 2007 and the fewest annual domestic passengers since 2004.

U.S. airlines carried 91.5 million scheduled international passengers in 2008, up 1.2 percent from the 90.5 million carried in 2007. The passengers were carried on 848,200 flights, down 1.7 percent from the 862,900 flights operated in 2007. BTS has scheduled April 16 for the release of January traffic data.