The US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has reported that US airlines’ systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service load factor – a measure of the use of airline capacity – rose to 83.6% in June, seasonally adjusted, rising for the third consecutive mont.
The seasonally-adjusted load factor rose from May (83.5%) to June (83.6%) because passenger travel grew faster (0.6% increase in Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs)) than system capacity (0.5% increase in Available Seat-Miles (ASMs).
Systemwide load factor (83.6%) was down 1.1 points from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (84.7%) reached in October 2015. Domestic load factor (84.8%) was down 1.4 points from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (86.2%) reached in October 2015. International load factor (80.9%) was down 2.2 points from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (83.1%) reached in March 2013.
Systemwide RPMs (78.3 billion) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.6% from May 2016. Domestic RPM (55.3 billion) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.3% from May 2016. International RPMs (23.1 billion) were down 0.1% from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (23.1 billion) reached in July 2015.
Systemwide ASMs (93.7 billion) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.5% from May 2016. Domestic ASMs (65.2 billion) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.6% from May 2016. International ASMs (28.5 billion) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 0.3% from May 2016.
Systemwide passenger enplanements (69.0 million) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, slightly exceeding the previous high in May 2016 by 4,000 passengers. Domestic passenger enplanements (60.2 million) were down 0.2% from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (60.3 million) reached in May 2016. International passenger enplanements (8.8 million) reached a new seasonally-adjusted all-time high, up 1.1% from May 2016.
On an unadjusted basis, systemwide load factor (86.6%) was down 0.4 points from the all-time June high (87.0%) reached in 2013. Domestic load factor (87.6%) was up 0.2 points from the all-time June high (87.4%) reached in 2014. International load factor (84.5%) was down 2.4 points from the all-time June high (86.9%) reached in 2013.
Systemwide RPMs (86.4 billion) reached an all-time June high, up 4.5% from the previous high (82.7 billion) reached in 2015. Domestic RPMs (60.2 billion) reached an all-time June high, up 5.5% from the previous high (57.0 billion) reached in 2015. International RPMs (26.2 billion) reached an all-time June high, up 2.1% from the previous high (25.7 billion) reached in 2015.
Systemwide ASMs (99.7 billion) reached an all-time June high, up 4.2% from the previous high (95.7 billion) reached in 2015. Domestic ASMs (68.7 billion) reached an all-time June high, up 5.3% from the previous high (65.2 billion) reached in 2015. International ASMs (31.1 billion) reached an all-time June high, up 1.9% from the previous high (30.5 billion) reached in 2015.
Systemwide passenger enplanements (74.4 million) reached an all-time June high, up 4.5% from the previous high (71.3 million) reached in 2015. Domestic passenger enplanements (64.7 million) reached an all-time June high, up 4.7% from the previous high (61.8 million) reached in 2015. International passenger enplanements (9.7 million) reached an all-time June high, up 3.0% from the previous high (9.5 million) reached in 2015.