US airlines report 1.4% fall in Oct-2009 system pax

US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports (14-Jan-2010) the following total system (domestic and international) traffic results for US airlines in Oct-2009:

• Passenger numbers: 59.7 million, -1.4% year-on-year;
• Load factor: 79.1%, +3.0 ppts;
• Flights: 821,400, -4.5%;
• Flight stage length: 702.4 miles, +0.7%.

According to BTS, Southwest Airlines remained the largest US airline, by total scheduled system enplanements in Oct-2009. The top ten airlines are as follows:

• Southwest Airlines: 8.8 million, +2.5% year-on-year;
• American: 7.1 million, -4.2%;
• Delta: 5.7 million, -4.8%;
• United: 4.7 million, -8.9%;
• US Airways: 4.2 million, -4.5%;
• Continental: 3.5 million, -1.0%;
• Northwest: 3.1 million, -16.1%;
• AirTran: 2.0 million, +1.5%;
• SkyWest: 1.9 million, +9.7%;
• JetBlue: 1.7 million, +7.8%. [more][more - Perspective]