Passenger traffic was down for the nation’s airlines in February compared with a year earlier, with experts blaming the economy and a drop-off in business travel.
Airline officials said they hope a more diverse mix of travelers will bring a rebound in the second and third quarters of 2009.
United Airlines, the largest airline at Denver International Airport, reported a 15.2 percent decrease in total consolidated revenue passenger miles, down from 9,029,655 to 7,659,531.
A revenue passenger mile — flying one paying passenger 1 mile — is the principal measure of airline passenger traffic.
United’s capacity also was down 14 percent.
Frontier, Denver’s No. 2 carrier, showed a reduction of nearly 20 percent in passenger traffic and a 15.4 percent capacity decrease.
A 6 percent decrease in passenger traffic was reported by Southwest, Denver’s No. 3 airline, and a capacity drop of 6.5 percent.
Other airlines that fly into Denver also reported decreases. Those were Delta, passenger traffic down 11 percent with a 7.8 percent capacity drop; American, passenger traffic down 13.5 percent with a 10.1 percent capacity drop; and US Airways, passenger traffic down 9.3 percent and capacity down 9 percent.
Last week, DIA officials reported that 2009 began with a 2.4 percent dip in passenger traffic in January.
Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com
