BTS website data

BTS 43-10

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568




BTS Data Collection Site.

BTS Releases June 2010 Airline Traffic Data;
System Traffic Up 2.3 Percent from June 2009


For data tables, see BTS Air Traffic Release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported in a release of preliminary data that U.S. airlines carried 65.0 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in June 2010. This is a 2.3 percent increase from June 2009 (Table 1). The June 2010 passenger total was 4.4 percent below that of two years ago in June 2008 (Table 2).

BTS, a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, also reported that U.S. airlines carried 1.4 percent more domestic passengers in June 2010than in June 2009. The number of international passengers on U.S. carriers increased 8.4 percent over June 2009 (Tables 7, 13). The June 2010 load factors of 86.2 percent systemwide, 86.3 percent domestic and 85.9 percent international were the highest recorded for any June (Tables 1, 7, 13).

Additional traffic numbers can be found on the BTS website in the Airline Industry box. Click on a link in the column on the right. For more historic numbers, see Traffic on the BTS website.

For the first six months of 2010, the number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines increased 1.2 percent from the same period in 2009 to 349.5 million (Table 2). The number of passengers declined 8.0 percent from the first six months of 2008 to the first six months of 2010.


U.S. airlines carried 0.7 percent more domestic passengers and 4.3 percent more international passengers in the first six months of 2010 than during the same period in 2009 (Tables 7, 13).

Top Airlines in June

In June, Delta Air Lines carried more total system and international passengers than any other U.S. airline (Tables 4, 16). Southwest Airlines carried the most domestic passengers (Table 10).

During the first six months of 2010, Delta carried more total system and international passengers than any other U.S. airline (Tables 3, 15). Southwest carried the most domestic passengers (Table 9). See notes under airline ranking tables for more details on Delta’s report.

Top Airports in June

In June, more total system and domestic passengers boarded planes at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport (Tables 6 and 12); and more international passengers boarded U.S. carriers at New York JFK than at any other U.S. airport (Table 18).

During the first six months of 2010, more total system and domestic passengers boarded planes at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International than at any other U.S. airport (Tables 5 and 11); and more international passengers boarded U.S. carriers at Miami International than at any other U.S. airport (Table 17).

Flights Operated

In June, U.S. airlines operated 822,000 scheduled domestic and international flights, down 0.7 percent from the number of flights operated in June 2009 (Table 1). The number of domestic flights decreased 1.2 percent in June from a year earlier while international flights were up 5.9 percent (Tables 7, 13).

During the first six months of 2010, U.S. carriers operated 4.7 million domestic and international flights, 1.7 percent fewer than were operated during the same period in 2009 (Table 1). Domestic flights decreased 2.0 percent from the previous year while international flights were up 1.3 percent (Tables 7, 13).

June 2010 Airline Traffic Data.


Airline Employment Data.