Delta Air Lines is bigger than United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines is bigger than either, when size is measured by passenger emplanements regardless of length of trip.
US Airways and America West, corporately merged, though still working to consolidate operationally, are together larger than either Northwest Airlines or Continental Airlines, according to first quarter emplanement figures released this month by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines (NYSE: AMR) takes the top spot in both passenger emplanements and revenue passenger miles, which is the metric the industry usually measures itself by since longer flights bring in more revenue.
Revenue passenger miles take into account how far passengers travel. According to that metric, American is followed by United, Delta, Continental and Northwest, Continental having recently expanded its way from fifth to fourth place.
The bureau's figures show that by international emplanements alone the top three are American, United and Continental.
Passenger emplanements, first quarter:
American: 23.3 billion.
Southwest: 22.9 billion.
Delta: 17.1 billion.
United: 16.3 billion.
US Airways-America West: 13.9 billion.
Northwest: 12.9 billion.
Continental: 11.5 billion.
Of the above figures, Delta traffic is down 5.1 percent from year-before levels while Continental is up 4.4 percent; the rest moved less in either direction.
The same report ranked airports by passenger traffic and found that Atlanta's Hartsfield airport now is much busier than Chicago's O'Hare by the only metric passengers care about: how many passengers are passing through the facility.
Top U.S. airports by first quarter emplanements:
1. Atlanta: 9.6 billion.
2. Chicago O'Hare: 8 billion.
3. Dallas-Ft. Worth: 6.6 billion.
4. Denver: 5.5 billion.
5. Los Angeles: 5.4 billion.
6. Phoenix: 5.1 billion.
7. Las Vegas: 5.0 billion.
8. Houston: 4.8 billion.
9. Orlando: 4.1 billion.
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul: 4 billion.
Denver and Orlando stand out in the list for having a very low percentage of international emplanements. Las Vegas has more domestic emplanements than Los Angeles does.
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/.../25/daily7.html
US Airways and America West, corporately merged, though still working to consolidate operationally, are together larger than either Northwest Airlines or Continental Airlines, according to first quarter emplanement figures released this month by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines (NYSE: AMR) takes the top spot in both passenger emplanements and revenue passenger miles, which is the metric the industry usually measures itself by since longer flights bring in more revenue.
Revenue passenger miles take into account how far passengers travel. According to that metric, American is followed by United, Delta, Continental and Northwest, Continental having recently expanded its way from fifth to fourth place.
The bureau's figures show that by international emplanements alone the top three are American, United and Continental.
Passenger emplanements, first quarter:
American: 23.3 billion.
Southwest: 22.9 billion.
Delta: 17.1 billion.
United: 16.3 billion.
US Airways-America West: 13.9 billion.
Northwest: 12.9 billion.
Continental: 11.5 billion.
Of the above figures, Delta traffic is down 5.1 percent from year-before levels while Continental is up 4.4 percent; the rest moved less in either direction.
The same report ranked airports by passenger traffic and found that Atlanta's Hartsfield airport now is much busier than Chicago's O'Hare by the only metric passengers care about: how many passengers are passing through the facility.
Top U.S. airports by first quarter emplanements:
1. Atlanta: 9.6 billion.
2. Chicago O'Hare: 8 billion.
3. Dallas-Ft. Worth: 6.6 billion.
4. Denver: 5.5 billion.
5. Los Angeles: 5.4 billion.
6. Phoenix: 5.1 billion.
7. Las Vegas: 5.0 billion.
8. Houston: 4.8 billion.
9. Orlando: 4.1 billion.
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul: 4 billion.
Denver and Orlando stand out in the list for having a very low percentage of international emplanements. Las Vegas has more domestic emplanements than Los Angeles does.
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/.../25/daily7.html
Maybe the reporter just ran out of m's.....
