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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 4-8: Certificated Air Carrier Fuel Consumption and Travel(a)

Friday, July 22, 2016

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 (R) 2013 2014 2015
Number of aircraft 2,135 2,125 2,679 2,495 3,808 4,678 6,083 6,054 7,320 7,297 7,370 7,411 7,478 7,616 8,111 8,228 8,055 8,497 8,194 8,176 8,186 8,225 8,089 8,044 7,856 U U U U U U U
Average miles flown per aircraft (thousands) 487 667 949 808 768 736 777 770 669 701 726 759 782 791 766 796 862 801 834 901 978 1,003 1,016 1,046 1,036 U U U U U U U
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 5,613 6,106 6,602 6,716 6,606 6,733 6,446 5,935 5,976 6,005 5,956 5,965 5,947 6,046
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 1,222 1,261 1,403 1,536 1,615 1,682 1,696 1,599 1,690 1,778 1,770 1,758 1,790 1,824
Fuel consumption (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 13,904 13,112 12,287 12,417 13,380 13,284 13,019 12,999 12,469 11,147 11,057 10,828 10,238 10,156 10,293 10,741
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 5,123 4,956 4,572 4,451 4,765 5,040 5,220 5,428 5,509 5,087 5,247 5,521 5,621 5,749 5,900 5,988
Aircraft-miles flown per gallon                                                                
Domestic operations 0.44 0.29 0.26 0.22 0.27 0.30 0.32 0.34 0.34 0.35 0.35 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.38 0.37 0.41 0.42 0.46 0.49 0.49 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.52 0.53 0.54 0.55 0.58 0.59 0.58 0.56
International operations 0.32 0.22 0.21 0.17 0.19 0.17 0.19 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.23 0.22 0.22 0.22 0.24 0.23 0.25 0.25 0.27 0.28 0.29 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.32 0.32 0.31 0.31 0.30 0.30

KEY: R = revised; U = data are not available.

a Aircraft operating under 14 CFR 121 and 14 CFR 135.

SOURCES

Number of aircraft:

1960-65: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, 1970 edition (Washington, DC: 1970), table 5.3.

1970-75: Ibid., FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, Calendar Year 1979 (Washington, DC: 1979), table 5.1.

1980-85: Ibid., FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, Calendar Year 1986 (Washington, DC: 1986), table 5.1.

1990-97: Ibid., FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, Calendar Year 1997 (Washington, DC: unpublished), personal communication, Mar. 19, 1999.

1998-2008: Aerospace Industries Association, Aerospace Facts and Figures (Washington DC: Annual Issues), "Active U.S. Air Carrier Fleet", p. 94 and similar pages in earlier editions.

Aircraft-miles flown:

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

1975-2015: U.S. Department of Transportation, 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 May 27, 2016.

Fuel consumption:

U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Airline Fuel Cost and Consumption, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp as of May 27, 2016.