US airlines load factors up in June

The US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has reported that US airlines’ systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service load factor – a measure of the use of airline capacity – rose to 83.6% in June, seasonally adjusted, rising for the third consecutive mont. The seasonally-adjusted load factor rose from May (83.5%) to June (83.6%) because passenger travel grew faster (0.6% increase in Revenue Passenger-Miles (RPMs)) than system capacity (0.5% increase in Available Seat-Miles (ASMs). Systemwide load factor (83.6%) was down 1.1 points from the all-time seasonally-adjusted high (84.7%) reached in October 2015. Domestic load factor (84.8%) was