The seasonally-adjusted load factor rose from October (84.0) to November (84.3) because passenger travel grew faster (1.1 percent increase in RPMs) than system capacity (0.8 percent increase in ASMs) (Tables 4, 7).

Load factor is a measure of the use of aircraft capacity that compares the system use, measured in Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) as a proportion of system capacity, measured in Available Seat-Miles (ASMs).

Trends:

Seasonally-adjusted

While up month-to-month, systemwide load factor (84.3) was down 0.7 points from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (85.0) reached in October 2015 (Table 1). Domestic load factor (85.3) was down 1.1 points from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (86.4) reached in October 2015 (Table 2). International load factor (81.8) was down 1.3 points from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (83.1) reached in March 2013 (Table 3).

Systemwide RPMs (78.4 billion) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.1 percent from June 2016 (78.3 billion) (Table 4). Domestic RPM (55.8 billion) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.6 percent from September 2016 (55.5 billion) (Table 5). International RPMs (22.6 billion) were down 2.1 percent from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (23.1 billion) reached in July 2016 (Table 6).

Systemwide ASMs (93.0 billion) were down 0.5 percent from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (93.5 billion) reached in June 2016 (Table 7). Domestic ASMs (65.4 billion) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.2 percent from August 2016 (65.3 billion) (Table 8). International ASMs (27.6 billion) were down 2.7 percent from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (28.4 billion) reached in June 2016 (Table 9).

Systemwide passenger enplanements (69.5 million) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.3 percent from September 2016 (69.3 million) (Table 10). Domestic passenger enplanements (60.9 million) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.3 percent from September 2016 (60.7 million) (Table 11). International passenger enplanements (8.6 million) were down 1.9 percent from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (8.7 million) reached in June 2016 (Table 12).

Seasonally adjusted trends are for the time period January 2000 to present. Additional data, including domestic and international numbers, can be found on the seasonally-adjusted data  page.

Unadjusted

Systemwide load factor (83.1) was up 0.7 points from the previous all-time November high (82.4) reached in 2015 (Table 13). Domestic load factor (84.7) was up 0.5 points from the previous all-time November high (84.2) reached in 2015 (Table 14). International load factor (78.9) was down 0.7 points from the all-time November high (79.6) reached in 2012 (Table 15).

Systemwide RPMs (72.2 billion) reached an all-time November high, up 3.1 percent from the previous high (70.0 billion) reached in 2015 (Table 16). Domestic RPMs (53.3 billion) reached an all-time November high, up 4.6 percent from the previous high (50.9 billion) reached in 2015 (Table 17). International RPMs (18.9 billion) were down 1.0 percent from the all-time November high (19.1 billion) reached in 2015 (Table 18).

Systemwide ASMs (86.9 billion) reached an all-time November high, up 2.3 percent from the previous high (84.9 billion) reached in 2015 (Table 19). Domestic ASMs (62.9 billion) reached an all-time November high, up 3.4 percent from the previous high (60.8 billion) reached in 2007 (Table 20). International ASMs (24.0 billion) were down 2.8 percent from the all-time November high (24.7 billion) reached in 2014 (Table 21).

Systemwide passenger enplanements (66.6 million) reached an all-time November high, up 3.1 percent from the previous high (64.6 million) reached in 2015 (Table 22). Domestic passenger enplanements (59.3 million) reached an all-time November high, up 3.7 percent from the previous high (57.2 million) reached in 2015 (Table 23). International passenger enplanements (7.3 million) were down 1.6 percent from the all-time November high (7.4 million) reached in 2015 (Table 24).

Unadjusted trends are for the time period January 1996 to present. Data are available at Customize Table and can be downloaded from the seasonally-adjusted data  page.

Explanation of seasonal adjustment

When the primary purpose is to examine monthly shifts in transportation services output and analyze short-term trends, the variation introduced by normal seasonal changes must be removed from the data. Transportation is highly seasonal, and without adjustment, the data do not give an accurate picture of underlying changes in aviation, passenger travel.

Seasonal adjustment of the data removes the seasonal events that follow a regular seasonal pattern. Changes that are not due to seasonality, such as a change in air travel resulting from economic conditions become more readily apparent.

The aviation data are seasonally adjusted for the effects of trading day, moving holidays, and data outliers.

See Seasonal Adjustment for methodology and additional explanation.

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 82 carriers as of Feb. 7 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.

Go to http://www.transtats.bts.gov/releaseinfo.asp for the complete list of reporting and non-reporting carriers. U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point flights are included in system and international totals. To create a customized table for passengers, flights, RPMs, ASMs and other data, including non-scheduled service, go to https://www.transtats.bts.gov/TRAFFIC/

For additional scheduled service numbers for U.S. airlines, U.S. and foreign airlines, by airline and by airport, see Passengers, Flights, Revenue Passenger-Miles, Available Seat-Miles and Load Factor.

Traffic numbers are available on the BTS website at TranStats, the Intermodal Transportation Database, at http://transtats.bts.gov.  Click on “Aviation.”  For systemwide passengers, RPMs and ASMs by carrier through November, click on “Air Carrier Summary Data (Form 41 and 298C Summary Data),” and then click on “Schedule T-1.” Use crosstabs to find scheduled service.

For domestic numbers through November and international numbers through August by origin as well as by carrier, click on “Aviation,” then click on “Air Carrier Statistics (Form 41 Traffic).”  Click on “T-100 Market” for system passenger numbers, “T-100 Domestic Market” for domestic or “T-100 International Market” for international.  For flights, stage length and trip length, use the appropriate T-100 Segment database. Use crosstabs to find scheduled service.

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. TranStats T-100 systemwide and international totals do not include U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point flights. For November, U.S. carriers reported 62,362 foreign point-to-point passengers. For January through November, U.S. carriers reported 1,075,817 foreign point-to-point passengers.

Data are subject to revision. BTS has scheduled March 16 for the release of December traffic data. None of the data are from samples so measures of statistical significance do not apply.

Seasonally-Adjusted Tables

Load Factor on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted (Tables 1-3)

Table 1. Systemwide Load Factor on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) RPMs/ASMs (both seasonally-adjusted) in percent, Scheduled service only

Table 2. Domestic Load Factor on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Domestic RPMs/ASMs (both seasonally-adjusted) in percent, Scheduled service only

Table 3. International Load Factor on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

International RPMs/ASMs (both seasonally-adjusted) in percent, Scheduled service only

Revenue Passenger-Miles on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted (Tables 4-6)

Table 4. Systemwide Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) RPMs (seasonally-adjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 5. Domestic Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Domestic RPMs (seasonally-adjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 6. International Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

International RPMs (seasonally-adjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Available Seat-Miles on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted (Tables 7-9)

Table 7. Systemwide Available Seat-Miles (ASMs) on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) ASMs (seasonally-adjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 8. Domestic Available Seat-Miles (ASMs) on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Domestic ASMs (seasonally-adjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 9. International Available Seat-Miles (ASMs) on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

International ASMs (seasonally-adjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted (Tables 10-12)

Table 10. Systemwide Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) passenger enplanements (seasonally adjusted) in millions (000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 11. Domestic Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Domestic passenger enplanements (seasonally adjusted) in millions (000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 12. Domestic Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted

Domestic passenger enplanements (seasonally adjusted) in millions (000,000), Scheduled service only

Unadjusted Tables

Load Factor on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted (Tables 13-15)

Table 13. Systemwide Load Factor on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) RPMs/ASMs (both unadjusted) in percent, Scheduled service only

Table 14. Domestic Load Factor on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

Domestic RPMs/ASMs (both unadjusted) in percent, Scheduled service only

Table 15. International Load Factor on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

International RPMs/ASMs (both unadjusted) in percent, Scheduled service only

Revenue Passenger-Miles on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted (Tables 16-18)

Table 16. Systemwide Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) RPMs (unadjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 17. Domestic Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

Domestic RPMs (unadjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 18. International Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs) on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

International RPMs (unadjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Available Seat-Miles on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted (Tables 19-21)

Table 19. Systemwide Available Seat-Miles (ASMs) on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) ASMs (unadjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 20. Domestic Available Seat-Miles (ASMs) on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

Domestic ASMs (unadjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 21. International Available Seat-Miles (ASMs) on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

International ASMs (unadjusted) in billions (000,000,000), Scheduled service only

Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted (Tables 22-24)

Table 22. Systemwide Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) passenger enplanements (unadjusted) in millions (000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 23. Systemwide Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

Systemwide (Domestic + International) passenger enplanements (unadjusted) in millions (000,000), Scheduled service only

Table 24. International Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Unadjusted

International passenger enplanements (unadjusted) in millions (000,000), Scheduled service only