ATA Reports April Traffic, Revenue Down
Madhu Unnikrishnan madhu_unnikrishnan@aviationweek.com
Demand for air travel in the U.S. continues its freefall, according to the latest data from the Air Transport Association (ATA), which reported that April marked the sixth consecutive month of falling domestic airline revenue.
Revenue from passenger flights fell 18% in April, compared with the same month in 2008. This was in part due to a traffic slump of 6.3% compared with April 2008, ATA reports. International traffic was not immune, ATA said, as trans-Pacific, transatlantic and Latin America routes were also down.
Commenting on the ATA report, J.P. Morgan analyst Jamie Baker noted that RASM declined 11.5% in April. More than the 10% the investment bank had predicted. Despite this, Baker says demand seems to have stabilized. Given that Easter shifted from March to April this year, demand drops between the two months suggest that conditions may have stabilized, Baker said.
Cargo traffic, considered an augury of the direction of the economy, remains weak, ATA reported. Cargo traffic in March, the last month for which data are available, fell 21% year over year, the eighth consecutive month of declining cargo traffic, ATA said. Traffic in the Pacific fell by 28%. "The industry is seeing less demand in the cabin as well as in the cargo holds -- clear signs of the widespread slowdown in global economic activity," said ATA President James May.
Photo credit: JetBlue
