U.S. flights hit record crowding in 2007
Record-high fuel prices guarantee that trend will continue, analysts said.
"Don't expect load factors to go down," airport consultant Mike Boyd said. "Airlines are pulling back capacity because they can't make money at $110 (per barrel) oil. That's going to mean fewer discount seats and fewer open seats."
Airplane crowding has increased steadily since 2002 partly because more people are taking commercial flights - a record 769 million flew last year on U.S. airlines, up from 613 million five years ago.
At the same time, airlines are flying smaller airplanes. In 2002, the average flight had 106 seats, according to USA TODAY's analysis. In 2007, the average size was 94 seats, thanks to increased use of 50- and 70-seat regional jets.
"Airlines have cut back on capacity to drive up (fares)," said Stephen Van Beek, president of the Eno Transportation Foundation, a Washington, D.C., research group. "They're using smaller planes domestically and pushing bigger wide bodies to international flights."
Although federal figures show that the average airplane is nearly a quarter empty, Van Beek said that calculation includes flights at inconvenient times. "A lot of times you'll see late-night flights that have obscenely few people on them," Van Beek said.
For the typical passenger flying during the day, "flights are totally full," Boyd said.
The percentage of seats filled is roughly the same on major airlines but varies significantly among airports.
Florida airports including Miami, West Palm Beach and Orlando have among the most-crowded flights. Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, one of the fastest-growing airports, had the most-congested flights of the 100 largest airports: 81 percent of the seats were filled on departing planes.
But two high-profile Northeastern airports offered far more comfort. At both New York's LaGuardia and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, just 71 percent of seats were filled on outgoing flights, USA TODAY's analysis shows. In 1990, the earliest year for which computerized DOT data are available, LaGuardia and National's outgoing flights were 55 percent full.
LaGuardia and National have hourly shuttles that run between the two airports a total of about 60 times a day. That makes it one of the busiest U.S. routes, USA TODAY's analysis shows. But the flights are typically about half-full.
The large number of empty seats raises questions about the efficiency of the New York-to-Washington shuttle, aviation consultant Patrick Murphy said. Airlines charge high prices and can make a profit on the shuttle flights, Murphy said.
"People are paying for convenience," he said. "It's a good tool for business travelers."
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