March 2020 U.S. Airline Traffic Data (Final)

U.S. airlines carried 36.6 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in March 2020, seasonally-adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS), down 53.2% from February.

BTS is withholding the scheduled release of estimated U.S. airlines’ traffic data for April and May because the estimates are statistical forecasts based on previous trends. The estimates do not account for the coronavirus.

U.S. airlines carried 32.3 million domestic passengers and 4.4 million international passengers in March, seasonally-adjusted.

Mid-April Airline Employment Down 37,000 from Mid-March

US airlines employed 715,017 workers in the middle of April 2020, almost 37,000 fewer than in mid-March 2020 and almost 21,000 fewer than in April 2019. The April 2020 numbers consist of 604,551 full-time and 110,466 part-time workers.

Regulations require airlines to report employment numbers to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for employees who worked or received pay for any part of the pay period(s) ending nearest the 15th day of the month.

April 2020 Airline Passengers Tables (Preliminary)

Table 3: International Percent Change in US Airlines Scheduled Service Passengers from the Same Month of the Previous Year, 2016-2020

Table 2: Domestic Percent Change in US Airlines Scheduled Service Passengers from the Same Month of the Previous Year, 2016-2020

Table 1: Systemwide Percent Change in US Airlines Scheduled Service Passengers from the Same Month of the Previous Year, 2016-2020

Preliminary Air Traffic Data, April 2020: 96% Reduction in U.S. Airline Passengers from 2019

U.S. airlines carried 96% fewer scheduled service passengers in April 2020 than in April 2019, according to preliminary data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 24 airlines that carry 99% of the passengers.

The 96% annual decline in the number of passengers from April 2019 is the largest year-to-year decrease on record, larger than the 51% decline from March 2019 to March 2020.

The large airlines carried 3.0 million passengers in April, the lowest monthly total in BTS records dating back to 1974. The previous low was 14.6 million passengers in February 1975.

Airline Passengers, April 2020 (Preliminary)

International Airline Cargo Tables Mar 2020

Air Cargo Down 15% Between the U.S. and Foreign Points, March 2020 (Preliminary)

U.S. and foreign airlines carried 15.2% less cargo by weight between the U.S. and foreign points in March 2020 than in March 2019, according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by large air carriers.

March 2020 cargo numbers to and from the U.S. by world geographic areas (by weight):

• Total to and from the U.S.: 403 thousand tons, down 15.2% from March 2019 (475T tons)
• Europe: 102 thousand tons, down 25.0% from March 2019 (135T tons)
• Latin America: 46 thousand tons, down 29.2% from March 2019 (65T tons)
• Asia (including China): 229 thousand tons, down 6.4% from March 2019 (245T tons)
• China: 66 thousand tons, up 2.0% from March 2019 (66T tons)
• Canada: 9 thousand tons, down 8.1% from March 2019 (10T tons)