Passenger traffic grew 4.5 percent in May, compared to the same month a year ago, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In May, 73.9 million passengers traveled with United States air carriers. The number represents a new high in passengers, both international and domestic, and continues a four-month trend of consecutive increase.
Domestic enplanements increased by 4.9 percent from May 2017’s numbers, and were up by a 12.7 percent compared to three years ago. International enplanements increased by 1.9 percent from the previous May and were up 10 percent from May 2015, the BTS data shows.
Systemwide load factor, not seasonally adjusted, edged up slightly in May to 84.1 percent compared to 84 percent in May 2017. Passenger travel, in terms of revenue passenger miles, grew 6.6 percent compared to capacity growth, in available seat miles, of 5.2 percent.
The full report can be accessed on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ website, at https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/may-2018-us-airline-traffic-data.
