January 2021 U.S. Airline Traffic Data
Release Number: BTS 25-21
U.S. airlines carried 30.8 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in January 2021, seasonally adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS), down 0.9% from December.
BTS reported 27.7 million domestic passengers and 3.1 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights in January.
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 January 2018 - January 2021
Passengers in millions (Seasonally adjusted) | |
---|---|
Jan-18 | 72.5 |
Feb-18 | 73.7 |
Mar-18 | 72.9 |
Apr-18 | 73.9 |
May-18 | 73.7 |
Jun-18 | 74.5 |
Jul-18 | 74.5 |
Aug-18 | 74.3 |
Sep-18 | 73.9 |
Oct-18 | 75.0 |
Nov-18 | 74.9 |
Dec-18 | 75.8 |
Jan-19 | 75.1 |
Feb-19 | 75.9 |
Mar-19 | 77.0 |
Apr-19 | 76.6 |
May-19 | 76.9 |
Jun-19 | 77.4 |
Jul-19 | 77.4 |
Aug-19 | 77.4 |
Sep-19 | 77.9 |
Oct-19 | 77.6 |
Nov-19 | 79.0 |
Dec-19 | 78.8 |
Jan-20 | 79.9 |
Feb-20 | 78.6 |
Mar-20 | 37.7 |
Apr-20 | 3.0 |
May-20 | 8.0 |
Jun-20 | 15.4 |
Jul-20 | 21.2 |
Aug-20 | 23.7 |
Sep-20 | 27.1 |
Oct-20 | 29.4 |
Nov-20 | 29.7 |
Dec-20 | 31.1 |
Jan-21 | 30.8 |
Two measures of U.S. airlines passenger enplanements
January seasonally adjusted
- System-wide enplanements (30.8M) were down 61.4% from the all-time high of 79.9 million reached in January 2020.
- Domestic enplanements (27.7M) were down 60.5% from the all-time high of 70.1 million reached in January 2020.
- International enplanements (3.12M) were down 68.2% from the all-time high of 9.79 million reached in January 2020.
January unadjusted
- Systemwide enplanements (27.3M) were down 61.4% from the all-time January high (70.8) reached in 2020 and down 10.5% from December 2020 (30.5M).
- Domestic enplanements (24.3M) were down 60.5% from the all-time January high (61.6) reached in 2020 and down 10.7% from December 2020 (27.3M).
- International enplanements (2.99M) were down 67.4% from the all-time January high (9.2) reached in 2020 and down 8.3% from December 2020 (3.26M).
Table A. Seasonally Adjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Time Periods
Seasonally Adjusted |
Passengers (in millions) |
Percent Change Compared to |
||
Previous Month |
Previous Year |
Three Years Previous |
||
January |
30.8 |
-0.9% |
-61.4% |
-57.5% |
Table B. Unadjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Time Periods
Unadjusted |
Passengers (in millions) |
Percent Change Compared to |
||
Previous Year |
Two Years Previous |
Three Years Previous |
||
January |
27.3 |
-61.4% |
-59.2% |
-57.6% |
For data filed through January, 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 64 U.S. carriers as of April 6 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.
See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional scheduled service numbers through January for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through October.
BTS has scheduled May 13 for the release of data through February.
None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.