The number of flights performed globally by the airline industry has increased steadily since the early 2000s and reached **** million in 2019. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of flights dropped to **** million in 2020. The flight volume increased again in the following years and was forecasted to reach ** million in 2025.

In 2024, U.S. airlines carried around 852.1 million passengers on domestic flights across the United States. This was an increase from the roughly 819.3 million domestic passengers carried by U.S. airlines in the previous year.

This dataset provides a comprehensive overview of domestic airline routes within the United States. It includes valuable information for analyzing passenger travel patterns, market trends, and airline pricing strategies.

Data Features:

• Year
• Quarter
• City Market IDs
• Departure City
• Arrival City:
• Miles: The distance between the origin and arrival cities in miles.
• Average Daily Passengers: The average number of passengers flying this route per day.
• Average Fare: The average fare paid by passengers for this route (consider including currency information).

Potential Uses:

• Travel Demand Analysis: Identify popular routes, and understand seasonal variations in passenger traffic.
• Market Research: Analyze airline competition on specific routes and assess pricing strategies.
• Route Optimization: Airlines can use this data to evaluate existing routes and identify potential new routes with high passenger demand.
• Business Intelligence: Businesses can use this data to understand travel patterns relevant to their industry and make informed decisions.

Data Cleaning and Transformation Considerations:

• Ensure consistency in city names (consider using the city market ID to group nearby airports).
• Handle missing values appropriately.
• Consider converting categorical features to numerical representations for analysis.

In 2024, U.S. airlines recorded ****** million passengers on domestic and international flights. The previous year, the number of passengers at U.S. airports officially surpassed the pre-pandemic peak of ***** million passengers recorded in 2019.

Graph and download economic data for Revenue Passenger Miles for U.S. Air Carrier Domestic and International, Scheduled Passenger Flights (RPM) from Jan 2000 to Jul 2025 about flight, miles, passenger, air travel, travel, revenue, domestic, and USA.

This dataset provides detailed information on airline flight routes, fares, and passenger volumes within the United States from 1993 to 2024. The data includes metrics such as the origin and destination cities, distances between airports, the number of passengers, and fare information segmented by different airline carriers. It serves as a comprehensive resource for analyzing trends in air travel, pricing, and carrier competition over a span of three decades.

Data Features:

• tbl: Table identifier
• Year: Year of the data record
• quarter: Quarter of the year (1-4)
• citymarketid_1: Origin city market ID
• citymarketid_2: Destination city market ID
• city1: Origin city name
• city2: Destination city name
• airportid_1: Origin airport ID
• airportid_2: Destination airport ID
• airport_1: Origin airport code
• airport_2: Destination airport code
• nsmiles: Distance between airports in miles
• passengers: Number of passengers
• fare: Average fare
• carrier_lg: Code for the largest carrier by passengers
• large_ms: Market share of the largest carrier
• fare_lg: Average fare of the largest carrier
• carrier_low: Code for the lowest fare carrier
• lf_ms: Market share of the lowest fare carrier
• fare_low: Lowest fare
• Geocoded_City1: Geocoded coordinates for the origin city
• Geocoded_City2: Geocoded coordinates for the destination city
• tbl1apk: Unique identifier for the route

Potential Uses:

• Market Analysis: Assess trends in air travel demand, fare changes, and market share of airlines over time.
• Price Optimization: Develop models to predict optimal pricing strategies for airlines.
• Route Planning: Identify profitable routes and underserved markets for new route planning.
• Economic Studies: Analyze the economic impact of air travel on different cities and regions.
• Travel Behavior Research: Study changes in passenger preferences and travel behavior over the years.
• Competitor Analysis: Evaluate the performance of different airlines on various routes.

About Dataset:

This dataset provides detailed information on airline flight routes, fares, and passenger volumes within the United States from 1993 to 2024.

Data Features:

1. tbl: Table identifier 2. Year: Year of the data record 3. quarter: Quarter of the year (1-4) 4. citymarketid_1: Origin city market ID 5. citymarketid_2: Destination city market ID 6. city1: Origin city name 7. city2: Destination city name 8. airportid_1: Origin airport ID 9. airportid_2: Destination airport ID 10. airport_1: Origin airport code 11. airport_2: Destination airport code 12. nsmiles: Distance between airports in miles 13. passengers: Number of passengers 14. fare: Average fare 15. carrier_lg: Code for the largest carrier by passengers 16. large_ms: Market share of the largest carrier 17. fare_lg: Average fare of the largest carrier 18. carrier_low: Code for the lowest fare carrier 19. lf_ms: Market share of the lowest fare carrier 20. fare_low: Lowest fare 21. Geocoded_City1: Geocoded coordinates for the origin city 22. Geocoded_City2: Geocoded coordinates for the destination city 23. tbl1apk: Unique identifier for the route

Potential Uses: 1. Market Analysis: Assess trends in air travel demand, fare changes, and market share of airlines over time. 2. Price Optimization: Develop models to predict optimal pricing strategies for airlines. 3. Route Planning: Identify profitable routes and underserved markets for new route planning. 4. Economic Studies: Analyze the economic impact of air travel on different cities and regions. 5. Travel Behavior Research: Study changes in passenger preferences and travel behavior over the years. 6. Competitor Analysis: Evaluate the performance of different airlines on various routes.

Graph and download economic data for Load Factor for U.S. Air Carrier Domestic and International, Scheduled Passenger Flights (LOADFACTOR) from Jan 2000 to Jul 2025 about flight, passenger, air travel, travel, domestic, and USA.

American Airlines was the leading global airline based on passenger traffic in 2024, with 226 million passengers. Ryanair followed with 181.7 million passengers carried, while United Airlines rounded out the top three with 173.6 million.
Asian airlines are dominating the airline market Despite financial problems, four out of the top ten busiest airlines in the world were based in Asia. The rising middle classes in emerging economies are expected to help global air traffic grow at an average annual growth rate of four percent till 2040. Such emerging regions, particularly China, are on the cusp of becoming key markets for the aviation industry. In 2023, Chinese tourists spent a staggering 196.5 billion US dollars during their holidays outside their home country.

***** million passengers boarded the listed U.S. airlines domestically in 2021, with the majority of enplaned passengers riding with Southwest Airlines, which had ***** million domestic enplanements in that year.   Southwest Airlines: additional information    Southwest Airlines was the airline with the most enplanements each year since 2011, with Delta Air Lines consistently coming in second until 2020 when American Airlines took the second spot. In 2021, Southwest Airlines had a customer satisfaction index score above the average for American airline companies.  The worst year in air traffic    Passenger air travel has been growing yearly since 2009, a trend estimated to continue through 2020 until the coronavirus pandemic happened, erasing two decades of passenger traffic growth in only a few months. This can also be seen in the number of domestic passenger enplanements on U.S. airlines - Southwest Airlines transported ** percent less passengers in 2020 than it did in 2019.

The statistic presents the U.S. regional airline carriers' average passenger trip length from 2006 to 2020. In 2020, regional airline passengers traveled an average trip length of *** miles, up from *** miles in 2019.

A total of 296 deaths were recorded worldwide in 2024 due to air traffc accidents, a sharp increase from 72 fatalities the previous year. Despite such year-to-year fluctuations, the overall trend over slightly longer or much longer time periods shows a decline in fatalities. Fatal airline accidents According to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, air traffic fatalities refer to an incident where a person is fatally injured due to an occurrence associated with the operation of the aircraft. This definition covers any time from when the first person starts boarding to when the final person disembarks the plane. Corporate jet and military transport accidents are generally excluded. Overall safety of air travel The overall trend downward in air travel fatalities is notable given that the volume of passenger air traffic has increased by more than 66 percent since 2004. Indeed, when considered in terms of the number of accidents per distance travelled, air travel is statistically the safest form of transport. For example, in both the United States and the United Kingdom, air travel is many thousands of times safer than the most dangerous form of travel – motorcycle riding.

In 2020, there were about ***** aircraft in the U.S. commercial aircraft fleet. This figure is forecasted to decrease to ***** aircraft in 2021. Aviation in the U.S. Established in the 1920s, the U.S. aviation industry grew at an exponential rate since *****. Aviation industry’s growth in the U.S. intensified additionally as a result of the need to travel more and less well-advanced other public transport methods, such as trains or busses. As of 2019, the U.S. has the most connected aviation industry worldwide, which was based on a composite measure for the global air transport network. Development of the aviation industry continues to surge in the country at a rapid pace. Since 2004 the revenue streams of U.S. airlines grew by *** billion U.S. dollars, reaching over *** billion U.S. dollars in 2019. In 2019, Southwest Airlines was the leading airline in the U.S. by brand index, which is based on overall brand health as a weighted average of quality, value, satisfaction and reputation. Southwest Airlines Founded in 1967 and based in Dallas, Texas, Southwest Airlines is the largest low-cost carrier (LCC) worldwide. When it was established, the company went through an arduous procedure before becoming a major firm for air transportation in the U.S. Yet, LCC’s high cost and service effectiveness business model was sufficiently promising over the recent decades. This distinct business model of the airline fulfilled the vision of Southwest Airlines, namely connecting people at a low-price reliably. As of April 2021, the company was the seventh-largest airline based on sales globally. In 2020, Denver, Chicago, and Las Vegas were the main hubs for Southwest Airlines by the number of passengers. During the last decade, Southwest Airlines’ revenue passenger miles (RPMs) increased continuously, reaching over *** billion RPMs.

The timeline shows advertising spending of American Airlines Incorporated in the United States in 2013 and 2014. The U.S. airline company invested **** million U.S. dollars in measured media advertising in the United States in 2014, down from **** million a year earlier. American Airlines Group – additional informationAmerican Airlines Incorporated belongs to the American Airlines Group Incorporated, which was formed in December 2013 as a result of a merger between AMR Corporation and US Airways Group. The Group’s operating revenue amounted to ***** billion U.S. dollars in 2014, up by more than 100 percent from its 2009 revenue of **** billion. Domestic flights generated ** percent of the total revenue; the second largest revenue generator were flights to Latin America, followed by Atlantic and Pacific. The largest share of the Group’s revenue originates in the passenger business. In a J.D. Power satisfaction index from March 2016, American Airlines scored ** points below the industry average in the traditional airlines segment. The best airline in the ranking – Alaska Airlines – was given ** points above average, whereas the weakest – United Airlines – scored ** points below average. Corporate travel buyers gave American Airlines a rating of **** out of five, behind Delta Air Lines with ****, United Airlines with **** andSouthwest Airlines with ****. American Airlines’ highest graded attributes were its distribution channels as well as its networks, partnerships and frequencies. The buyers criticized the company’s flexibility; its ***** lowest-scoring attributes were in negotiating services and amenities, transient pricing and meeting pricings.

In 2024, U.S. airlines reported a passenger load factor of ***** percent on domestic flights across the United States. This marked a slight increase from the previous year's load factor of ***** percent. The passenger load factor is measured by dividing revenue passenger miles by available seat miles for a reporting period.

This statistic shows the air travel frequency of citizens in the United States as of June 2015, by ethnicity. During the survey, eight percent of Hispanic respondents labeled themselves as frequent air travelers.

The airline industry is more and more contingent on ancillary revenue as airlines are trying to improve their operating margins with new sources of revenue; in 2019 this value amounted to ***** billion U.S. dollars. However, in 2020, due to the coronavirus outbreak, ancillary revenue dropped to only **** billion U.S. dollars, a ** percent decrease compared to the previous year. LCC business modelThe increased presence of low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines or Ryanair is putting pressure on legacy carriers. With their a la carte look-alike approach, these airlines are generating ancillary revenue from offering flights at low average prices and charging for optional checked bags, seat preferences or on-board retail; these services that were once at the base of the product are now unbundled and generated ***** billion U.S. dollars in 2019. Ancillary revenue streamsAncillary revenue streams focus on activities and services offered by airlines at their passengers’ choice of purchase. Not taking into consideration the contribution of frequent-flyers miles, the second largest share of ancillary revenue comes from baggage fees and other a la carte services and on-board retail. The a la carte services emphasizes the comfort of passengers, with services such as premium seat allocation, sale of food and beverages during flights or early screening and boarding. Leading U.S. carriers generate their largest share of ancillary revenue from these types of activities. With its ‘Delta Comfort +’, Delta Air Lines provides priority boarding, more leg room, on board food and beverages and inflight entertainment. American Airlines and United offer premium economy services such as extra leg room or other highlights.

In 2023, Delta Air Lines had over 272 billion available seat miles, which was a significant increase relative to the number of available seat miles in 2020, when the coronavirus affected the company's operations dramatically. Available seat miles report the total flight passenger capacity of an airline in miles by multiplying the total number of seats available by the total number of miles in which those seats were flown.      Delta: a profitable airline    The airline company had a passenger load factor of around 85 percent in 2023, which is slightly higher than the national average. Delta's net income reflects its improved efficiency, reaching over 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in the same period.     Air transportation industry in the United States     Delta Air Lines contributed to the colossal 1.14 trillion ASMs reported by U.S. airlines on domestic and international flights in 2022. Due to its geographic extensiveness, the United States has a massive air transportation infrastructure. With at least one airport in every major city, air transportation happens continuously. Almost half of the leading airline groups worldwide hail from the United States.   

Amongst low-cost airlines in the United States there is considerable difference in average ticket prices: on one extreme is Spirit, with an average domestic ticket price of ** U.S. dollars, while on the other extreme is JetBlue, whose average domestic ticket price stood at *** U.S. dollars in the 12 months ending December 31, 2020. Ultra-low-cost carriersVariance in ticket prices between low-cost carriers has led some analysts to talk of a new industry segment – ultra-low-cost carriers (ULCC). ULCCs differ in that their business model is aimed at finding untapped locations to create extremely cheap flights. This business model creates new demand through courting consumers who do not normally fly, rather than structuring services according to existing demand. The ULCC model has proved to be successful, with ULCCs such as Allegiant and Frontier recording strong growth in operating revenue over recent years, as has the overall ULCC segment. Low cost carriersMore broadly, the low-cost carrier segment has been consistently expanding its share of the American airline market over the last decade. This trend extends beyond America, with low cost carriers dominating the global list of airlines which launched the newest routes in 2018. The U.S. ULCCs Allegiant, Frontier and Spirit all featured in the top 20 of this list.