Definition of Passenger Volume

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Sep 2, 2018
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ORD reporting shows 2017 January revenue passenger as 4,501,484:

https://www.flychicago.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Business/FactAndFigures/AirTraffic/0117 ORD SUMMARY.pdf

Is this number calculated by summing all revenue passengers on arriving flights and all revenue passengers on departing flights?

I would like to understand that if a person is transiting through ORD (person may or may not switch aircraft): does that count as '2 passengers' counting method or 0?

I ask the questions because I would like to understand if it is possible to understand of the 4.5M, is there a thought process to determine how many of these passengers required TSA security screening (passenger originating from ORD)?

What exactly triggers the counter revenue passenger? Is it a revenue ticket that originates from ORD? Originates or terminates in ORD? Any references are appreciated. Thank you
 
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Passengers whose destination is ORD (what you refer to as terminating passengers) are not subject to law enforcement inspection unless they have created some kind of disturbance in the air prior to landing. Why would they be? All they have to do is claim their luggage and leave the airport. If you mean inspection of their luggage, that was done at whatever airport was their departure station. The "quality" of that inspection is not questioned unless there have been sufficient incidences to suggest that luggage inspection at a particular airport is not "up to standard."

Through passengers--i.e., passengers who are simply changing planes at ORD--are also not subject to LEO inspection unless something happened prior to arrival in ORD that moved the inbound pilot to ask for LEO assistance. However, that would probably involve local police rather than TSA personnel.

I may be wrong about this, but IIRC, revenue is assigned to the original departure airport. If you fly DFW-LAX-MCI-ORD (I know it's an extreme example, but...), the revenue for that ticket is assigned to DFW. In the parlance of a former day in air travel--the station that sold the ticket. This has been a thorn in the side of hub airports that deal predominantly with through passengers who are simply changing planes at that hub. There is neither inbound nor outbound revenue for the hub; yet they have to maintain all the same infrastructure as the airport that gets credit for the revenue.

Back when I was in college (shortly after the end of the last Ice Age), I flew from CLT to ATL to BHM and back on Eastern Airlines. From an accounting standpoint, the revenue went to CLT where I paid for the ticket at the Eastern CTO (City Ticket Office)for the entire trip. AFAIK, that idea prevails. Age check: how many readers remember CTOs? There was a day when every airline had (at least) one in every city in which they did sufficient business to justify the cost of the CTO; otherwise, you bought your ticket at the airport when you checked in.

In answer to your question about how is passenger volume counted...passengers are counted in 3 separate groups---Arriving (ORD is destination), Departing (ORD is trip origination station), and Through passengers (passenger who is changing planes at ORD). Each group puts different demands upon airport security and security personnel are assigned accordingly to meet those demands. How, where, and why are not topics of public discussion. Even your local police do not announce which street intersections they are going to be watching for red light runners next Tuesday. People tend to behave if they know they are being watched.
 
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I am interpreting from paragraph three, that because: ORD 2017 January revenue passengers are 4,501,484, that all 4.5M passengers originate from Chicago and must be screened by TSA. Please confirm or correct the interpretation. Any reference to support are always appreciated: thank you!
 
AFAIK, that is correct. You would need someone with a higher pay grade than mine was (I was a flight attendant for American) to get an exact answer. Again, public discussions of security topics--such as how many TSA personnel are required at a particular airport--are discouraged. You may find someone has decided to investigate you to determine your reason for asking.