Release Date: BTS 22-21

 

 

U.S. airlines carried 13% more cargo by weight in January 2021 (preliminary) than in January 2020.  The rise was fueled by gains of 12% in domestic cargo and 15% in international cargo, according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 14 of the leading U.S. cargo airlines.

The 14 airlines carry 95% of the total cargo by weight on U.S. airlines. Cargo data consists of freight and mail carried within the U.S. and between the U.S. and foreign points.

January 2021 (preliminary) air cargo numbers for 14 U.S. carriers:

• Total: 1,593 thousand tons, up 13.2% from January 2020 (1,407T tons)
• Domestic: 1,184 thousand tons, up 12.4% from January 2020 (1,053T tons)
• International: 409 thousand tons, up 15.4% from January 2020 (355T tons)

  

 

U.S. airline traffic reports are filed monthly with BTS.  Final January data will be released on April 15.  Complete international data by origin and destination, which is under a six-month confidentiality restriction, will be release on July 16.

 

Table 1: Systemwide Percent Change in US Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2017-2021

Cargo = Freight + Mail

	Year-to-Year Percent Change
	2017 - 2018	2018 - 2019	2019 - 2020	2020 - 2021
January	10.6	4.9	-1.4	13.2*
February	9.3	-0.4	-0.4	-
March	5.7	-0.3	-1.4	-
April	5.7	4.5	-1.3	-
May	9.0	3.1	1.2	-
June	5.6	-1.2	9.5	-
July	6.6	3.6	12.8	-
August	4.8	0.2	5.7	-
September	4.9	-4.5	18.6	-
October	5.7	-1.2	13.0	-
November	-0.7	-2.2	13.0	-
December	0.2	0.7	16.9	-
Annual	5.4	0.5	7.3	-

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market

* January 2021 data is preliminary

 

 

Table 2: Domestic Percent Change in US Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2017-2021

Domestic cargo has a U.S. origin and U.S. destination

Cargo = Freight + Mail

	Year-to-Year Percent Change
	2017 - 2018	2018 - 2019	2019 - 2020	2020 - 2021
January	10.3	6.2	0.5	12.4*
February	9.0	0.7	1.9	-
March	3.9	-0.2	3.4	-
April	4.9	8.2	3.8	-
May	9.0	4.6	4.7	-
June	4.6	0.7	13.3	-
July	6.7	6.7	15.8	-
August	4.7	0.2	7.2	-
September	4.1	-2.8	21.7	-
October	6.1	1.7	14.3	-
November	-0.4	-1.6	13.6	-
December	0.1	4.6	15.9	-
Annual	5.0	2.4	9.8	-

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

* January 2021 data is preliminary

 

 

 

Table 3: International Percent Change in US Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2017-2021

International cargo on a U.S. airline is carried between a U.S. airport and a foreign airport.

Cargo = Freight + Mail

	Year-to-Year Percent Change
	2017 - 2018	2018 - 2019	2019 - 2020	2020 - 2021
January	11.3	1.5	-6.7	15.4*
February	10.2	-3.4	-6.7	-
March	10.6	-0.5	-13.6	-
April	7.7	-4.5	-15.4	-
May	8.9	-1.0	-8.4	-
June	8.4	-5.7	-0.7	-
July	6.5	-4.1	4.5	-
August	5.2	0.1	1.6	-
September	6.8	-8.8	10.5	-
October	4.6	-8.7	9.5	-
November	-1.5	-3.7	11.4	-
December	0.4	-10.7	20.1	-
Annual	6.4	-4.2	0.4	-

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market

* December data is preliminary

 

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 14 U.S. airlines as of March 12.

See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional U.S. airlines numbers through December for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through September.

None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.