Weekly News Summary - August 22, 2006

Statistics compiled by the Aerospace Industry Association of America's Aerospace Research Center show civil aerospace orders in 2005 nearly doubled from 2004 and nearly tripled compared to 2003. The pace continued during the first half of 2006 with $78 billion in orders, a rate that would put it at $156 billion and surpass 2005's record of $151 billion. AIA President and CEO John Douglass said civil aerospace is in its third year of growth, up nearly 50 percent over 2003. 08-21-2006.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said its reporting U.S. airlines carried 301.9 million scheduled domestic and international passengers on their systems during the first five months of 2006, 0.9% more than they did during the same period in 2005.

U.S. airlines carried 0.4% more domestic passengers and 5.8% more international passengers during the five-month period in 2006 than during the same period in 2005.

In May, U.S. airlines carried 64.0 million scheduled domestic and international passengers, 0.3 % fewer than in May 2005. The number of domestic passengers declined 0.4% in May from a year earlier while international passengers increased 5.8%.

U.S. carriers operated 4.27 million domestic and international flights during the first five months of 2006, 4.8% fewer than were operated during the same period in 2005. Domestic fights were down 5.4% from the previous year while international flights were up 2.3%.

In May, U.S. airlines operated 875,500 scheduled domestic and international flights, down 7.2% from the number of flights operated in May 2005. The number of domestic flights declined 7.8% in May from a year earlier while international flights increased 0.2%.

Systemwide

Other total system comparisons from the first five months of 2005 to the first five months of 2006 and from May 2005 to May 2006 are as follows:

RPMs (revenue passenger miles), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 2.7% in the first five months. In May, RPMs were up 1.8%.
ASMs (available seat-miles), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the distance flown, were down 1.2% in the first five months. In May, ASMs were down 0.7%.
Passenger load factor, passenger miles as a proportion of available seat-miles, was up 2.6 load factor points to 78.4% in the first five months. In May, load factor was up 1.3 load factor points to 80.3 percent.

Domestic

U.S. airlines carried 267.1 million scheduled domestic passengers during the first five months of 2006, up from the 266.1 million carried during the same period in 2005. The passengers were carried on 3.92 million flights, down 5.4% from the 4.14 million flights operated in the first five months of 2005.

In May the airlines carried 56.7 million domestic passengers, down from the 57.3 million carried during May 2005. The passengers were carried on 804,500 flights, down 7.8% from the 872,600 flights operated in May 2005.

Other domestic comparisons from the first five months of 2005 to the first five months of 2006 and from May 2005 to May 2006 are as follows:

RPMs were up 1.8% in the first five months. In May RPMs were up 0.4%.
ASMs were down 2.5% in the first five months. In May ASMs were down 3.3%.
Passenger load factor was up 3.3 load factor points to 78.5% in the first five months. In May load factor was up 2.9 load factor points to 80.5%.

International

U.S. airlines carried 34.9 million scheduled international passengers during the first five months of 2006, up from the 33 million carried during the same period in 2005. The passengers were carried on 348,200 flights, up 2.3% from the 340,500 flights operated in the first five months of 2005.

In May the airlines carried 7.3 million international passengers, up from the 6.9 million carried during May 2005. The passengers were carried on 70,900 flights, up 0.1% from the 70,800 flights operated in May 2005.

Other international comparisons from the first five months of 2005 to the first five months of 2006 and from May 2005 to May 2006 are as follows:

RPMs were up 5.3% in the first five months. In May, international RPMs were up 5.5%.
ASMs were up 4.5% in the first five months. In May, international ASMs were up 4.8%.
Passenger load factor was up 0.5 load factor points in the first five months. In May, international load factor was up 0.8 load factor points.

Additional information is available at http://transtats.bts.gov. 08-21-2006.