August 2020 U.S. Airline Traffic Data
U.S. airlines carried 23.7 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in August 2020, seasonally-adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS), up 11.8% from July.
BTS is withholding the scheduled release of estimated traffic data for September and October because the statistical forecasts are based on previous trends and do not account for the impact of the coronavirus.
BTS reported 22.5 million domestic passengers and 1.2 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights in August.
Figure 1. Monthly Passengers on U.S. Scheduled Airlines (Domestic + International), Seasonally Adjusted, August 2017 - August 2020
| Passengers in millions (Seasonally adjusted) | 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Aug-17 | 71.2 | 2 |
| Sep-17 | 69.5 | 3 |
| Oct-17 | 72.0 | 4 |
| Nov-17 | 72.3 | 5 |
| Dec-17 | 72.3 | 6 |
| Jan-18 | 72.4 | 7 |
| Feb-18 | 73.9 | 8 |
| Mar-18 | 73.1 | 9 |
| Apr-18 | 73.8 | 10 |
| May-18 | 73.7 | 11 |
| Jun-18 | 74.4 | 12 |
| Jul-18 | 74.4 | 13 |
| Aug-18 | 74.3 | 14 |
| Sep-18 | 73.9 | 15 |
| Oct-18 | 75.1 | 16 |
| Nov-18 | 74.8 | 17 |
| Dec-18 | 75.8 | 18 |
| Jan-19 | 75.0 | 19 |
| Feb-19 | 76.1 | 20 |
| Mar-19 | 77.1 | 21 |
| Apr-19 | 76.6 | 22 |
| May-19 | 76.9 | 23 |
| Jun-19 | 77.3 | 24 |
| Jul-19 | 77.3 | 25 |
| Aug-19 | 77.4 | 26 |
| Sep-19 | 77.9 | 27 |
| Oct-19 | 77.8 | 28 |
| Nov-19 | 79.0 | 29 |
| Dec-19 | 78.7 | 30 |
| Jan-20 | 79.6 | 31 |
| Feb-20 | 78.8 | 32 |
| Mar-20 | 37.7 | 33 |
| Apr-20 | 3.0 | 34 |
| May-20 | 8.0 | 35 |
| Jun-20 | 15.4 | 36 |
| Jul-20 | 21.2 | 37 |
| Aug-20 | 23.7 | 38 |
| 39 |
U.S. airline traffic reports are filed monthly with BTS. See the tables that accompany this release on the BTS website for summary data since 2016 (Tables 1-24) and complete data since 2000.
Two measures of U.S. airlines passenger enplanements
August seasonally-adjusted
- System-wide enplanements (23.7M) were down 70.2% from the all-time high of 79.6 million reached in January 2020.
- Domestic enplanements (22.5M) were down 67.8% from the all-time high of 69.8 million reached in January 2020.
- International enplanements (1.2M) were down 87.8% from the all-time high of 9.81 million reached in January 2020.
August unadjusted
- Systemwide enplanements (25.3M) were down 69.8% from the all-time August high of 83.8 million reached in 2019 but up 5.4% from July 2020 (24.0M).
- Domestic enplanements (23.9M) were down 67.1% from the all-time August high of 72.7 million reached in 2019 but up 4.5% from July 2020 (22.9M).
- International enplanements (1.38M) were down 87.5% from the all-time August high of 11.1 million reached in 2019 but up 22.6% from July 2020 (1.13M).
Seasonally Adjusted | Passengers (in millions) | Previous Month | Previous Year | Three Years Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | 23.7 | 11.8% | -69.4% | -66.7% |
Unadjusted | Passengers (in millions) | Previous Year | Two Years Previous | Three Years Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | 25.3 | -69.8% | -68.8% | -67.2% |
For data filed through August, see accompanying tables. For the complete database of reported data, see Traffic. For an explanation of BTS’ seasonal adjustment methodology, see Seasonal Adjustment.
Reporting Notes
Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial U.S. air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic. This release includes data received by BTS from 66 U.S. carriers as of Nov. 3 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.
See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional scheduled service numbers through August for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through May.
BTS has scheduled Dec. 10 for the release of data through September.
None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.