May 2023 U.S. Airline Traffic Reaches New All-time High for the Month of May
BTS 37-23
U.S. airlines carried 81.8 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in May 2023, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). When adjusted for seasonality, May enplanements are down 1.7% from April and down 5.5% from the all-time high reached in January 2020.
BTS reported 71.4 million domestic passengers and 10.4 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights in May, not adjusting for seasonality. Systemwide enplanements (81.8M) reached a new all-time high for the month of May, not adjusted for seasonality.
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
May seasonally adjusted
- Systemwide enplanements (76.4M) were down 5.5% from the all-time high of 80.9 million reached in January 2020.
- Domestic enplanements (66.6M) were down 6.3% from the all-time high of 71.0 million reached in January 2020.
- International enplanements (9.88M) were down 1.4% from the all-time high of 10.01 million reached in April 2023.
May unadjusted
- Systemwide enplanements (81.8M) reached a new all-time high for the month of May.
- Domestic enplanements (71.4M) reached a new all-time high for the month of May.
- International enplanements (10.36M) reached a new all-time high for the month of May.
Monthly Passengers on U.S. Scheduled Airlines (Domestic + International), May 2020 - May 2023
| Month | Domestic + International passengers |
|---|---|
| May-20 | 7.6 |
| Jun-20 | 15.1 |
| Jul-20 | 20.7 |
| Aug-20 | 24.3 |
| Sep-20 | 26.9 |
| Oct-20 | 29.3 |
| Nov-20 | 30.3 |
| Dec-20 | 31.7 |
| Jan-21 | 31.6 |
| Feb-21 | 32.3 |
| Mar-21 | 41.3 |
| Apr-21 | 46.8 |
| May-21 | 54.8 |
| Jun-21 | 60.1 |
| Jul-21 | 63.9 |
| Aug-21 | 62.3 |
| Sep-21 | 62.4 |
| Oct-21 | 64.5 |
| Nov-21 | 69.4 |
| Dec-21 | 68.8 |
| Jan-22 | 60.9 |
| Feb-22 | 66.6 |
| Mar-22 | 70.0 |
| Apr-22 | 71.2 |
| May-22 | 70.9 |
| Jun-22 | 70.0 |
| Jul-22 | 69.4 |
| Aug-22 | 71.3 |
| Sep-22 | 75.0 |
| Oct-22 | 75.9 |
| Nov-22 | 76.3 |
| Dec-22 | 75.3 |
| Jan-23 | 78.2 |
| Feb-23 | 78.9 |
| Mar-23 | 76.1 |
| Apr-23 | 77.8 |
| May-23 | 76.4 |
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Table A. Seasonally Adjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Time Periods
|
Seasonally |
Passengers |
Percent Change Compared to |
||
|
Previous |
Previous |
Three Years |
||
|
May |
76.4 |
-1.7% |
7.7% |
908.0% |
Table B. Unadjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Time Periods
|
Unadjusted |
Passengers |
Percent Change Compared to |
||
|
Previous |
Two Years |
Three Years |
||
|
May |
81.8 |
7.9% |
41.7% |
915.5% |
For data filed through May, 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 77 U.S. carriers as of August 2nd for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.
See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional scheduled service numbers through May for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through February. International totals in this press release consist of all U.S. carrier operations to and from the U.S. and from one foreign point to another foreign point. BTS’ Airlines and Airports page does not include U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point flights.
BTS has scheduled September 15 for the release of data through June.
None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.
Missing carriers: 3E, (Multi-Aero), and 2HQ (Elite) have not reported for May. ExpressJet (EV) is in Chapter 11 and discontinued operations on August 22; there are no operations to report for September and beyond.