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Table 4-21: Energy Intensity of Certificated Air Carriers, All Servicesa

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 4-21: Energy Intensity of Certificated Air Carriers, All Servicesa

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  1960 1965 1970 (R) 1975 (R) 1980 (R) 1985 (R) 1990 (R) 1991 (R) 1992 (R) 1993 (R) 1994 (R) 1995 (R) 1996 (R) 1997 (R) 1998 (R) 1999 (R) 2000 (R) 2001 (R) 2002 (R) 2003 (R) 2004 (R) 2005 (R) 2006 (R) 2007 (R) 2008 2009
Aircraft-miles (millions)                                                    
Domestic operations 858 1,134 2,068 1,638 2,276 3,026 3,963 3,854 3,995 4,156 4,378 4,628 4,807 4,907 5,030 5,326 5,662 5,545 5,615 6,106 6,602 6,716 6,605 6,733 6,446 5,936
International operations 182 284 475 334 334 415 760 807 904 958 975 998 1,043 1,114 1,186 1,225 1,282 1,264 1,221 1,262 1,403 1,536 1,615 1,682 1,696 1,597
Available seat-miles (millions)                                                    
Domestic operations 52,220 94,787 213,160 215,275 326,734 452,756 570,558 551,562 567,040 582,122 598,150 616,459 639,013 652,026 661,616 698,866 726,291 704,801 687,316 696,976 750,863 758,646 745,979 763,563 734,265 683,843
International operations 13,347 29,533 51,960 64,138 84,514 110,578 182,652 186,468 205,829 211,831 211,109 215,623 220,708 228,689 237,413 242,981 254,048 245,718 227,127 225,559 249,337 270,677 281,547 296,529 306,594 291,352
Passenger-miles (millions)                                                    
Domestic operations 30,557 51,887 104,147 119,591 190,766 275,864 345,873 338,085 354,764 362,227 388,410 403,912 434,652 450,673 462,754 487,940 515,598 486,506 483,572 505,576 558,166 583,758 588,455 607,551 583,280 552,014
International operations 8,306 16,789 27,563 34,864 53,932 73,237 126,363 125,211 138,950 143,766 149,108 154,882 161,512 169,356 172,179 180,269 192,798 178,343 172,003 168,601 194,174 211,359 221,645 234,456 240,486 227,966
Fuel consumed (million gallons)                                                    
Domestic operations 1,954 3,889 7,857 7,558 8,519 10,115 12,212 11,360 11,598 11,960 12,501 12,812 13,187 13,658 13,303 14,491 14,865 13,868 12,922 13,082 14,091 13,976 13,694 13,682 12,686 11,339
International operations 566 1,280 2,243 1,949 1,747 2,488 3,938 3,888 4,079 4,112 4,325 4,511 4,658 4,962 4,915 5,277 5,508 5,336 5,079 5,219 5,592 5,975 6,018 6,205 6,187 5,721
Seats per aircraft                                                    
Domestic operations 60.9 83.6 103.1 131.5 143.6 149.6 144.0 143.1 141.9 140.1 136.6 133.2 132.9 132.9 131.5 131.2 128.3 127.1 122.4 114.2 113.7 113.0 112.9 113.4 113.9 115.2
International operations 73.3 104.0 109.4 192.1 252.7 266.2 240.2 231.2 227.6 221.1 216.4 216.1 211.5 205.3 200.1 198.3 198.2 194.5 186.0 178.7 177.7 176.2 174.3 176.3 180.7 182.4
Seat-miles per gallon                                                    
Domestic operations 26.7 24.4 27.1 28.5 38.4 44.8 46.7 48.6 48.9 48.7 47.8 48.1 48.5 47.7 49.7 48.2 48.9 50.8 53.2 53.3 53.3 54.3 54.5 55.8 57.9 60.3
International operations 23.6 23.1 23.2 32.9 48.4 44.4 46.4 48.0 50.5 51.5 48.8 47.8 47.4 46.1 48.3 46.0 46.1 46.1 44.7 43.2 44.6 45.3 46.8 47.8 49.6 50.9
Energy intensity (Btu/passenger-mile)                                                    
Domestic operations 8,633 10,118 10,185 8,532 6,029 4,950 4,767 4,536 4,413 4,457 4,345 4,282 4,096 4,091 3,881 4,009 3,892 3,848 3,608 3,493 3,408 3,232 3,142 3,040 2,936 2,773
International operations 9,199 10,292 10,986 7,547 4,374 4,586 4,207 4,192 3,963 3,861 3,916 3,932 3,893 3,955 3,854 3,952 3,857 4,039 3,986 4,179 3,888 3,816 3,665 3,573 3,473 3,388
Load factor (percent)                                                    
Domestic operations (R) 58.5 (R) 54.7 (R) 48.9 55.6 58.4 60.9 60.6 61.3 62.6 62.2 64.9 65.5 68.0 69.1 69.9 69.8 71.0 69.0 70.4 72.5 74.3 76.9 78.9 79.6 79.4 80.7
International operations (R) 62.2 (R) 56.8 (R) 53.0 54.4 63.8 66.2 69.2 67.1 67.5 67.9 70.6 71.8 73.2 74.1 72.5 74.2 75.9 72.6 75.7 74.7 77.9 78.1 78.7 79.1 78.4 78.2

KEY: Btu = British thermal unit; R = revised.

a U.S. owned carriers only. Operations of foreign-owned carriers in or out of the United States not included.

NOTES

Aircraft-miles include all four large certificated air-carrier groups (majors, nationals, large regionals, and medium regionals), scheduled and charter, passenger, and all-cargo. Fuel consumed includes majors, nationals, and large regionals, scheduled and charter, passenger, and all-cargo.

Passenger-miles include all four large certificated air-carrier groups, scheduled and charter, passenger service only.

International operations include operations outside the United States, including those between the United States and foreign countries and the United States and its territories or possessions.

Load factor: Ratio of Passenger-miles to Available seat-miles.

Heat equivalent factor used for Btu conversion is 135,000 Btu/gallon.

SOURCES

Aircraft-miles, available seat-miles, and passenger-miles:

1960-70: Air Transport Association, available at http://www.air-transport.org/ as of July 31, 2002.

1975-2009: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T1: U.S. Air Carrier Traffic and Capacity Summary by Service Class, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Fields.asp?Table_ID=264, as of Dec. 15, 2010.

Fuel consumed:

U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Airline Fuel Cost and Consumption, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp as of Dec. 15, 2010.

Seats per aircraft, seat-miles per gallon, energy intensiveness and load factor:

Derived by calculation.