371.1 million passengers boarded the listed U.S. airlines domestically in 2021, with the majority of enplaned passengers riding with Southwest Airlines, which had 120.7 million domestic enplanements in that year.
Southwest Airlines: additional information
Southwest Airlines was the airline with the most enplanements each year since 2011, with Delta Air Lines consistently coming in second until 2020 when American Airlines took the second spot. In 2021, Southwest Airlines had a customer satisfaction index score above the average for American airline companies.
The worst year in air traffic
Passenger air travel has been growing yearly since 2009, a trend estimated to continue through 2020 until the coronavirus pandemic happened, erasing two decades of passenger traffic growth in only a few months. This can also be seen in the number of domestic passenger enplanements on U.S. airlines - Southwest Airlines transported 58 percent less passengers in 2020 than it did in 2019.
Leading airlines in the United States from 2011 to 2021, ranked by domestic passenger enplanements
(in millions)
Characteristic
United Airlines
American Airlines**
Delta Air Lines
Southwest
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The values have been rounded.
** American Airlines 2015 passenger number includes 24.78 million passengers reported as US Airways from January to June 2015, before the merger of the two carriers.
U.S Airways 2014 and 2015 passenger numbers were retrieved from the following link. To access the data, select December 2015 as month and US Airways as carrier.
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Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (December 9, 2022). Leading airlines in the United States from 2011 to 2021, ranked by domestic passenger enplanements (in millions) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved September 01, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/445641/united-states-domestic-enplaned-passengers-of-leading-airlines/
Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "Leading airlines in the United States from 2011 to 2021, ranked by domestic passenger enplanements (in millions)." Chart. December 9, 2022. Statista. Accessed September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/445641/united-states-domestic-enplaned-passengers-of-leading-airlines/
Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (2022). Leading airlines in the United States from 2011 to 2021, ranked by domestic passenger enplanements (in millions). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/445641/united-states-domestic-enplaned-passengers-of-leading-airlines/
Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "Leading Airlines in The United States from 2011 to 2021, Ranked by Domestic Passenger Enplanements (in Millions)." Statista, Statista Inc., 9 Dec 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/445641/united-states-domestic-enplaned-passengers-of-leading-airlines/
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Leading airlines in the United States from 2011 to 2021, ranked by domestic passenger enplanements (in millions) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/445641/united-states-domestic-enplaned-passengers-of-leading-airlines/ (last visited September 01, 2024)
Leading airlines in the United States from 2011 to 2021, ranked by domestic passenger enplanements (in millions) [Graph], Bureau of Transportation Statistics, December 9, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/445641/united-states-domestic-enplaned-passengers-of-leading-airlines/