DOT: REPORT SHOWS IMPACT OF SEPT. 11 ON AIR FREIGHT, AIRLINES
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics' December “Transportation Indicators” report, shows that airline revenues and employment, as well as air traffic, had declined following Sept. 11.
The report also documented the impact of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on the nation’s airlines, with declines in passengers, flights and other measures of performance. The BTS said that, although these indicators show drops for the month overall, the declines following Sept. 11 only took place in the last two-thirds of the month.
According to the report, which also included comparisons of September 2001 to September 2000:
* Revenue ton-miles were down 24 percent for domestic, and 31 percent for international flights.
* Available ton-miles were down 13 percent for domestic, and 21 percent for international flights.
The report also showed that large air carriers’ operating revenues fell 17 percent in the third quarter, compared to the same quarter of 2000, while operating expenses fell by only 1 percent.
Other trends in the report show that producer prices for rail freight transportation fell in November, but were still up more than 3 percent since November 2000, after a sharp rise in October. This, the report shows, was the second-highest 12-month increase in the five years of the study’s history.
The monthly report is available on the Web at http://www.bts.gov .