American's passenger tally drops 7 percent in 2009

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Jan. 7--Airline passenger traffic at American Airlines dropped 1.6 percent in December and decreased 7.1 percent in 2009, numbers that nearly matched the reduced capacity flown by American last month and for the year, company executives said Wednesday.

American spokesman Tim Wagner said the nation's second-largest airline cut capacity about 8 percent in 2008 in anticipation of a travel downturn in 2009.

"We thought the economy had hit bottom and we hadn't seen any great improvement, but it wasn't getting worse," Wagner said. "We thought our reductions in capacity matched pretty well with the reductions in demand."

In December, American flew 10.15 billion revenue passenger miles, a 1.6 percent decline from December 2008, on a capacity decrease of 3.3 percent. A revenue passenger mile is flying one paying passenger one mile.

In December, American's load factor -- the percentage of seats filled -- was 80.6 percent, up 1.4 points from the same month a year earlier.

American boarded 7.07 million passengers in December, down 2.8 percent from December 2008.

For the year, American flew 122.37 billion revenue passenger miles, down 7.1 percent from 2008, on a capacity reduction of 7.2 percent.

American reported drops in passenger traffic last year in every region of the world it serves, from 7.8 percent in Latin America to 3.2 percent in the Pacific.

American's load factor last year was 80.7 percent, an increase of 0.1 point over 2008.

American

boarded 85.7 million passengers last year, down 7.6 percent from 2008.

American Eagle Airlines, American's regional airline affiliate, flew 627.03 million revenue passenger miles in December, up 6.6 percent from December 2008, on a capacity increase of 5.5 percent.

Its load factor last month was 71 percent, up 0.8 point from December 2008.

American Eagle boarded 1.53 million passengers in December, up 7.5 percent from December 2008.

In 2009, American Eagle flew 7.69 billion revenue passenger miles, a 3 percent decline from 2008, on a capacity reduction of 4.7 percent.

The regional carrier had a load factor of 71.5 percent last year, an increase of 1.3 points from a year earlier.

American Eagle boarded 18.75 million passengers in 2009, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier.

Wagner said American Eagle did not add to its aircraft fleet in 2009.

"But it's flying aircraft longer trip lengths, which accounts for the additional capacity," he said. "It's shifting aircraft around where we have more positive use. It helps us maximize revenue."

American Airlines, American Eagle Airlines passenger traffic in 2009:

AMERICAN

Revenue passenger miles: down 7.1 percent.

Available seat miles: down 7. percent.

Passengers boarded: 85.71 million, down 7.6 percent.

AMERICAN EAGLE

Revenue passenger miles: down 3 percent.

Available seat miles: down 4.7 percent.

Passengers boarded: 18.75 million, down 1.9 percent.

Source: American Airlines and American Eagle Airlines.

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