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May Airline Traffic Down from Year-Ago Level

Variety of problems responsible

By James Limbach
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 13, 2009
Fewer people are traveling by air these days and the recession is just one factor.

Figures released by the Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) show the number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines declined by 9.3 percent from the same month a year earlier -- 59.7 million.

That's a drop of 6.2 million and the 14th consecutive month with a decrease in passengers from the prior year.

Tom Parsons, CEO of Bestfares.com, told ConsumerAffairs.com that the recession is part of the problem because for many people, travel is "a discretionary item," and that's where people cut when things get tight.

He says concerns about swine flu are "scaring off people from traveling internationally," and that even cheaper fares are not helping. Parson's notes that there are fare sales "like there's no tomorrow" led primarily by Southwest and AirTran.

Preliminary data from BTS indicate U.S. airlines carried 8.6 percent fewer domestic passengers than in May 2008. International passengers on U.S. carriers decreased 14.8 percent, the biggest percentage decrease from the same month of the previous year since December 2001.

For the first five months of 2009, the number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines declined by 9.5 percent from the same period in 2008, dropping to 281.9 million, 29.5 million fewer than a year earlier, and the lowest January-to-May total since 2004.

U.S. airlines carried 9.4 percent fewer domestic passengers and 9.8 percent fewer international passengers in the first five months of 2009 than during the same period in 2008.

Southwest Airlines carried more total system and more domestic passengers for the first five months than any other U.S. airline, while American Airlines carried more international passengers than any other U.S. carrier.

More total system and domestic passengers boarded planes in the first five months at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport, and more international passengers boarded U.S. carriers at Miami International.

U.S. carriers operated 3.9 million domestic and international flights in the first five months of 2009, 9.3 percent fewer than were operated during the same period in 2008 Domestic flights were down 9.5 percent from the previous year while international flights were down 7.1 percent.

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