U.S. Airlines Carried 14% More Passengers in April than in March
BTS 44-21
Contact: BTSNews@dot.gov
U.S. airlines carried 47.2 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in April 2021, seasonally-adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), up 14.3% from March.
BTS reported 43.2 million domestic passengers and 4.0 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights in April.
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 - April 2021
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||
| January | 72.53 | 75.13 | 79.79 | 30.76 | |
| February | 73.79 | 75.98 | 78.80 | 31.79 | |
| March | 72.92 | 76.98 | 37.62 | 41.25 | |
| April | 73.85 | 76.59 | 2.99 | 47.16 | |
| May | 73.76 | 76.96 | 7.66 | ||
| June | 74.47 | 77.38 | 15.35 | ||
| July | 74.47 | 77.40 | 21.23 | ||
| August | 74.37 | 77.61 | 23.82 | ||
| September | 73.83 | 77.78 | 27.06 | ||
| October | 74.97 | 77.62 | 29.42 | ||
| November | 74.80 | 78.91 | 29.69 | ||
| December | 75.77 | 78.75 | 31.11 | ||
Domestic + International, seasonally-adjusted, in millions, scheduled service only.
Systemwide Passenger Enplanements on U.S. Airlines, Seasonally-Adjusted
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
Two measures of U.S. airlines passenger enplanements
April seasonally-adjusted
- System-wide enplanements (47.2M) were down 40.9% from the all-time high of 79.8 million reached in January 2020.
- Domestic enplanements (43.2M) were down 38.4% from the all-time high of 70.0 million reached in January 2020.
- International enplanements (4M) were down 59% from the all-time high of 9.75 million reached in January 2020.
April unadjusted
- Systemwide enplanements (47.8M) were down 37.5% from the all-time April high (76.4M) reached in 2019 and up 11.8% from March (42.8M).
- Domestic enplanements (43.8M) were down 34.6% from the all-time April high (66.9M) reached in 2019 and up 11.4% from March (39.3M).
- International enplanements (4.0M) were down 57.9% from the all-time April high (9.5M) reached in 2019 and up 16.0% from March (3.4M).
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 | ||
| April | 47.2 | 14.30% | 1475.10% | -36.10% |
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 | ||
| April | 47.8 | 1485.70% | -37.50% | -35.10% |
For data filed through April, 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 July 15 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.
See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional scheduled service numbers through April for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through January.
BTS has scheduled Aug. 12 for the release of data through May.
None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.