August 16, 2009
U.S. airlines served 282 million passengers in the first five months of this year, a 9.5-percent decrease on a year-on-year basis, U.S. business news outlets reported Friday.
Figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics also show that, in the current economic downturn, nearly all U.S. airlines, except Southwest Airlines and US Airways, suffered steep drops in the number of passengers during the period.
American Airlines dropped 10.6 percent, United Airlines 14.3 percent, Continental 11.5 percent and Northwest Airlines 20.2 percent, according to the bureau.
Southwest dropped 5.3 percent in the same time frame while US Airways was down 7.5 percent.
From January to May, Southwest served the most passengers overall, followed by American Airlines.
Meanwhile, statistics also show U.S. air travel in May was down9.3 percent from a year earlier, the 14th consecutive monthly year-to-year decline in air passenger totals nationwide.