American loses fliers: Airline's passenger traffic plunged in 2008

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Jan. 7--American Airlines and its regional airline affiliate, American Eagle Airlines, reported significant decreases in airline passenger traffic in December and for all of 2008, airline executives said.

American, which employs more than 7,000 people in Tulsa, flew 10.3 billion revenue passenger miles in December, an 8.2 percent decrease compared with December 2007, on a capacity decrease of 8.6 percent. A revenue passenger mile is flying one paying passenger one mile.

American reported decreases in passenger traffic last month in every market in which it flies.

American's load factor -- the percentage of its seats occupied -- was 79.2 percent in December, up 0.4 points from the same month a year earlier. American boarded 7.27 million passengers last month, down 8.2 percent from December 2007.

For the year, American flew 131.7 billion revenue passenger miles, a 4.8 percent decline from 2007, on a capacity decrease of 3.8 percent.

American's load factor last year was 80.6 percent, down 0.9 points from a year earlier.

The world's second-largest airline boarded 92.77 million passengers in 2008, a 5.5 percent decrease from 2007.

American Eagle flew 588.08 million revenue passenger miles in December, a 12.4 percent decrease, on a capacity decrease of 13.5 percent.

American Eagle's load factor last month was 70.2 percent, an increase of 0.9 points. The regional carrier boarded 1.42 million passengers in December, an 11.5 percent decrease from a year

earlier.

In 2008, American Eagle flew 7.9 billion revenue passenger miles, an 11 percent decrease, on a capacity reduction of 6.9 percent.

American Eagle's load factor last year was 70.2 percent, down 3.2 points from 2007.

American Eagle boarded 19.1 million passengers in 2008, down 10 percent from 2007.

D.R. Stewart 581-8451 [email protected]