USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Airline Traffic Data

Legacy ID
321
Show Effective Date
On
Significant Regulatory Guidance
No
Subscribe to Airline Traffic Data

2019 Traffic Data for U.S. Airlines and Foreign Airlines U.S. Flights - Final, Full-Year

U.S. airlines and foreign airlines serving the U.S. carried an all-time high of 1.1 billion systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in 2019, 3.9% more than the previous annual record high of 1.0 billion reached in 2018.

  • Systemwide: 1,053 million passengers, up 3.9% from 2018 (1,014M)
  • Domestic: 811 million passengers, up 4.3% from 2018 (778M)
  • International: 241 million passengers, up 2.4% from 2018 (236M)

December 2019 U.S. Airline Traffic Data

U.S. airlines carried 79.0 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in December 2019, reaching a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.9% from November.

 

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is withholding the scheduled release of estimated U.S. airlines’ traffic data for January and February because the estimates are statistical forecasts based on previous trends. The estimates do not account for the impact of the coronavirus.

Preliminary Estimated Full Year 2019 and December 2019 U.S. Airline Traffic Data

NOTE: The information below is estimated and has been superseded by actual data that can be found at www.bts.gov/newsroom/2019-traffic-data-us-airlines-and-foreign-airlines-us-flights. 

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) estimates that U.S. airlines carried more passengers in 2019 than in any previous year. For the full year 2019, January through December, U.S. airlines carried 925.5 million passengers, the highest total based on comparable records since 2003. The annual number has reached a new high for five consecutive years. The 2019 estimated passenger total is up 4.1% from 2018, up 9.0% from 2017 and up 12.3% from 2016. Numbers are unadjusted with 2019 consisting of 10 months reported data and two months estimated.

Estimated November 2019 U.S. Airline Traffic Data

 

U.S. airlines carried an estimated 78.3 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in November 2019, reaching a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) first estimate, up 0.2% from the October second estimate.

BTS estimated 68.5 million domestic passengers and 9.8 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights in November. The domestic and international passenger numbers were both seasonally-adjusted all-time highs.