March 2021 U.S. Airline Traffic Rose 30% from February
BTS 38-21
Contact: Dave Smallen
david.smallen@dot.gov
U.S. airlines carried 41.2 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in March 2021, seasonally-adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), up 29.6% from February.
BTS reported 37.8 million domestic passengers and 3.4 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights in March.
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.
Monthly Passengers on U.S. Scheduled Airlines (Domestic + International), Seasonally Adjusted January 2018 - March 2021
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 72.53 | 75.11 | 79.77 | 30.75 |
| February | 73.79 | 75.97 | 78.79 | 31.78 |
| March | 72.89 | 76.91 | 37.56 | 41.18 |
| April | 73.87 | 76.64 | 3.00 | |
| May | 73.75 | 76.96 | 7.66 | |
| June | 74.47 | 77.37 | 15.35 | |
| July | 74.47 | 77.40 | 21.23 | |
| August | 74.37 | 77.62 | 23.82 | |
| September | 73.81 | 77.76 | 27.05 | |
| October | 75.02 | 77.69 | 29.45 | |
| November | 74.80 | 78.92 | 29.70 | |
| December | 75.77 | 78.75 | 31.11 |
Systemwide (Domestic + International) passenger enplanements (seasonally-adjusted) in millions (000,000)
Scheduled service only
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
Two measures of U.S. airlines passenger enplanements
March seasonally adjusted
- System-wide enplanements (41.2M) were down 48.4% from the all-time high of 79.8 million reached in January 2020.
- Domestic enplanements (37.8M) were down 46.1% from the all-time high of 70.0 million reached in January 2020.
- International enplanements (3.41M) were down 65% from the all-time high of 9.75 million reached in January 2020.
March unadjusted
- Systemwide enplanements (42.8M) were down 46.7% from the all-time March high (80.2M) reached in 2019 and up 60.7% from February 2021 (26.6M).
- Domestic enplanements (39.3M) were down 44% from the all-time March high (70.2M) reached in 2019 and up 60.6% from February 2021 (24.5M).
- International enplanements (3.45M) were down 65.5% from the all-time March high (10.0M) reached in 2019 and up 62.4% from February 2021 (2.1M).
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 |
||
|
March |
41.2 |
29.6% |
9.6% |
-43.5% |
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 |
||
|
March |
42.8 |
9.5% |
-46.7% |
-44.0% |
For data filed through March, 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 62 U.S. carriers as of June 2 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.
See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional scheduled service numbers through March for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through December.
BTS has scheduled July 16 for the release of domestic data through April and international data through January.
None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.