Source: US Department of Transportation

U.S. airlines carried 674 million passengers (not seasonally adjusted) in 2021, 82.5% more than in 2020 (369 million, unadjusted). U.S. airline passenger enplanements in 2021 remained 27.3% below pre-pandemic 2019’s 927 million (unadjusted). System-wide 2021 enplanements comprised 612 million passengers on domestic flights and 62 million passengers on international flights.

U.S. airlines carried 68.1 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in December 2021, seasonally-adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS), up 0.2% from November 2021, but down 13.4% from pre-pandemic December 2019.

BTS reported 60.9 million domestic passengers and 7.2 million international passengers on U.S. airlines flights in December 2021.

U.S. airline traffic reports are filed monthly with BTS. See the tables that accompany this release on the BTS website for summary data since 2016 (Tables 1-24) and complete data since 2000.

Two measures of U.S. airlines passenger enplanements

Full-year 2021 seasonally adjusted

  • System-wide enplanements (667.6M) were down 28.0% from the all-time high (927.1M) reached in 2019.
  • Domestic enplanements (606.0M) were down 25.3% from the all-time high (811.7M) reached in 2019.
  • International enplanements (61.5M) were down 46.7% from the all-time high (115.4M) reached in 2019.

Full-year 2021, unadjusted

  • Systemwide enplanements (673.7M) were down 27.3% from the all-time high (926.8M) reached in 2019.
  • Domestic enplanements (611.9M) were down 24.6% from the all-time high (811.5M) reached in 2019.
  • International enplanements (61.8M) were down 46.4% from the all-time high (115.3M) reached in 2019.

December seasonally adjusted

  • System-wide enplanements (68.1M) were down 14.4% from the all-time high (79.6M) reached in January 2020.
  • Domestic enplanements (60.9M) were down 12.8% from the all-time high (69.9M) reached in January 2020.
  • International enplanements (7.18M) were down 26.4% from the all-time high (9.76M) reached in September 2019.

December unadjusted

  • Systemwide enplanements (66.6M) were down 16% from the all-time December high (79.3M) reached in 2019.
  • Domestic enplanements (59.5M) were down 14.6% from the all-time December high (69.7M) reached in 2019.
  • International enplanements (7.1M) were down 26% from the all-time December high (9.6M) reached in 2019.

Table A (Full-Year). 2021 Seasonally Adjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Years

Seasonally Adjusted Passengers (in millions) Percent Change Compared to
Previous Year Two Years Previous Three Years Previous
2021 667.6 73.7% 28.0% -25.0%

Table B (Full-Year). 2021 Unadjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Years

Unadjusted Passengers (in millions) Percent Change Compared to
Previous Year Two Years Previous Three Years Previous
2021 673.7 82.5% -27.3% -24.2%

Table A. Seasonally Adjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Periods

Seasonally Adjusted Passengers (in millions) Percent Change Compared to
Previous Month Previous Year Three Years Previous
December 68.1 0.2% 118.2% -10.1%

Table B. Unadjusted Passenger Enplanements Compared to Previous Periods

Unadjusted Passengers (in millions) Percent Change Compared to
Previous Year Two Years Previous Three Years Previous
December 66.6 118.2% -16.0% -8.6%

For data filed through December, see accompanying tables. For the complete database of reported data, see Traffic. For an explanation of BTS’ seasonal adjustment methodology, see Seasonal Adjustment.

Reporting Notes

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial U.S. air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic. This release includes data received by BTS from 77 U.S. carriers as of March 2 for U.S. carrier scheduled civilian operations.

See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional scheduled service numbers through December for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through September. International totals in this press release consist of all U.S. carrier operations to and from the U.S. and from one foreign point to another foreign point. BTS’ Airlines and Airports page does not include U.S. carriers’ foreign point-to-point flights.

BTS has scheduled April 14 for the release of data through January 2022.

None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.