February 2020 U.S. Airline Traffic Data
U.S. airlines carried 78.3 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in February 2020, seasonally-adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS), down 0.6% from January.
See preliminary March U.S. airlines passenger numbers.
BTS is withholding the scheduled release of estimated U.S. airlines’ traffic data for March and April because the estimates are statistical forecasts based on previous trends. The estimates do not account for the impact of the coronavirus.
In February, there were 68.9 million domestic passengers and 9.3 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights, seasonally-adjusted
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.
"Figure 1. Monthly Passengers on U.S. Scheduled Airlines (Domestic + International), Seasonally Adjusted, Feb 2017 - Feb 2020
| Passengers in millions (Seasonally Adjusted) | 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Feb-17 | 69.9 | 2 |
| Mar-17 | 70.0 | 3 |
| Apr-17 | 70.5 | 4 |
| May-17 | 70.7 | 5 |
| Jun-17 | 70.4 | 6 |
| Jul-17 | 71.2 | 7 |
| Aug-17 | 71.1 | 8 |
| Sep-17 | 69.2 | 9 |
| Oct-17 | 72.0 | 10 |
| Nov-17 | 72.3 | 11 |
| Dec-17 | 72.2 | 12 |
| Jan-18 | 72.3 | 13 |
| Feb-18 | 73.5 | 14 |
| Mar-18 | 73.3 | 15 |
| Apr-18 | 73.9 | 16 |
| May-18 | 73.8 | 17 |
| Jun-18 | 74.7 | 18 |
| Jul-18 | 74.8 | 19 |
| Aug-18 | 74.6 | 20 |
| Sep-18 | 73.4 | 21 |
| Oct-18 | 75.0 | 22 |
| Nov-18 | 74.9 | 23 |
| Dec-18 | 75.3 | 24 |
| Jan-19 | 74.7 | 25 |
| Feb-19 | 75.5 | 26 |
| Mar-19 | 77.5 | 27 |
| Apr-19 | 76.6 | 28 |
| May-19 | 77.3 | 29 |
| Jun-19 | 77.7 | 30 |
| Jul-19 | 77.9 | 31 |
| Aug-19 | 77.7 | 32 |
| Sep-19 | 77.2 | 33 |
| Oct-19 | 77.8 | 34 |
| Nov-19 | 78.3 | 35 |
| Dec-19 | 78.9 | 36 |
| Jan-20 | 78.7 | 37 |
| Feb-20 | 78.3 | 38 |
| 39 |
Two measures of U.S. airlines passenger enplanements
Reported February seasonally-adjusted
- System-wide enplanements (78.3M) were down 0.9% from the all-time, seasonally-adjusted, reported high of 78.9 million reached in December 2019.
- Domestic enplanements (68.9M) were down 0.4% from the all-time, seasonally-adjusted, reported high of 69.2 million reached in December 2019.
- International enplanements (9.32M) were down 3.8% from the all-time, seasonally-adjusted, reported high of 9.69 million reached in June 2019.
Reported February unadjusted
- Systemwide enplanements (67.8M) reached a new all-time high for the month of February, up 6.6% from the previous February high in 2019 (63.6M).
- Domestic enplanements (59.8M) reached a new all-time high for the month of February, up 7.4% from the previous domestic February high in 2019 (55.7M).
- International enplanements (7.96M) were up 0.7% from the all-time February high (7.90M) reached in 2019.
Table A. Seasonally Adjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Time Periods, February 2020
| Seasonally Adjusted | Passengers (in millions) | Percent Change Compared to | 1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous Month | Previous Year | Three Years Previous | 2 | ||
| February | 78.3 | -0.6% | 3.7% | 12.0% | 3 |
| 4 |
Table B. Unadjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Time Periods, February 2020
| Unadjusted | Passengers (in millions) | Percent Change Compared to | 1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous Year | Two Years Previous | Three Years Previous | 2 | ||
| February | 67.8 | 6.6% | 9.8% | 16.1% | 3 |
| 4 |
For data filed through February, 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 75 U.S. carriers as of May 5 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.
See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional scheduled service numbers through February for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through November.
BTS has scheduled June 11 for the release of March air traffic data.
None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.