Passenger numbers, load factors and yields continue to slip: ATA
Air Transport Association of America (ATA) member airlines transported 43.9 million passengers in May-2009, an 11.1% year-on-year reduction. Load factors also were down on 2008 levels, falling 1.4 ppts year-on-year, as the carriers' 8.4% year-on-year capacity (ASMs) reduction failed to match the 10.0% reduction in traffic (RPMs). However, average load factors still remained above 80% in the month (at 80.1%).
ATA Airlines passenger number growth by region: Mar-2007 to May-2009
Air Transport Association of America (ATA) traffic highlights: May-2009
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Passenger numbers (mill) |
43.9 |
-11.1% |
|
Domestic (mill) |
38.4 |
-11.0% |
|
International (mill) |
5.5 |
-12.0% |
|
Trans-Atlantic (mill) |
2.3 |
-4.2% |
|
882,000 |
-20.2% |
|
|
Latin America (mill) |
2.3 |
-15.5% |
|
Load Factor (%) |
80.1% |
-1.4 ppts |
|
Domestic (%) |
81.9% |
-0.2 ppts |
|
International (%) |
76.6% |
-4.0 ppts |
|
Trans-Atlantic (%) |
81.2% |
+0.3 ppts |
|
Asia Pacific (%) |
72.4% |
-9.0 ppts |
|
Latin America (%) |
70.5% |
-8.3 ppts |
All markets, including domestic and international regions, experienced passenger reductions in the month, with traffic to/from Asia Pacific the worse affected, down 20.2% year-on-year. Asia Pacific load factors also fell significantly in the month, down 9.0 ppts to 72.4%, despite a 10.8% capacity (ASMs) reduction on these services.
ATA Airlines ASM growth by region: Jan-2008 to May-2009
ATA Airlines RPM growth by region: Feb-2006 to May-2009
Yield reductions a further concern
A further concern for the US airlines is the continuing trend of yield reductions across all markets. Although yield data for May-2009 has not yet been released, data from Apr-2009 revealed a 10.7% year-on-year reduction in domestic yields, with reductions of 21.9%, 8.0% and 17.3% on Atlantic, Latin and Pacific services. US carriers have been reporting yield reductions on domestic services since Nov-2008, with Atlantic and Pacific yields slipping into negative territory in Dec-2008. Yields on Latin services followed, with negative changes commencing in Feb-2009.
Southwest largest US carrier
ATA also reported that Southwest Airlines reported the largest total system (domestic and international) traffic in May-2009, with 8.7 million passengers (down 6.7% year-on-year), followed by American Airlines with 7.3 million passengers and Delta Air Lines with 5.7 million passengers. However, Southwest's load factor remained weak, at 74.6%, with only Continental Micronesia reporting a lower load factor (of 61.3%).
Air Transport Association of America (ATA) traffic highlights: May-2009
|
Passengers (m) |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Southwest (mill) |
8.7 |
-6.7% |
|
American (mill) |
7.3 |
-13.1% |
|
Delta (mill) |
5.7 |
-4.6% |
|
United (mill) |
4.7 |
-16.2% |
|
US Airways (mill) |
4.4 |
-7.8% |
|
Continental (mill) |
3.7 |
-11.8% |
|
Northwest (mill) |
3.5 |
-21.8% |
|
AirTran (mill) |
2.0 |
-9.2% |
|
JetBlue (mill) |
1.8 |
+1.5% |
|
Alaska (mill) |
1.3 |
-11.9% |
|
Hawaiian |
679,000 |
-6.6% |
|
87,000 |
-13.9% |
| Load Factor (%) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
74.6% |
-0.3 ppts |
|
|
79.2% |
-2.6 ppts |
|
|
83.2% |
-0.2 ppts |
|
|
80.2% |
-2.3 ppts |
|
|
82.8% |
+0.4 ppts |
|
|
81.9% |
+0.1 ppts |
|
|
Northwest |
82.6% |
-3.9 ppts |
|
AirTran |
78.0% |
-1.3 ppts |
|
77.4% |
-1.8 ppts |
|
|
Alaska |
76.8% |
-1.0 ppts |
|
Hawaiian |
85.9% |
-4.6 ppts |
|
61.3% |
-4.2 ppts |
ATA forecasts 14 million fewer passengers over Summer
ATA is predicting the pain to continue, last month forecasting 7% fewer passengers over the US peak travel season between 01-Jun-09 to 31-Aug-09, compared to 2008 levels. This equates to approximately 195 million passengers over the three month period, or 150,000 fewer passengers per day.