The United States has an extensive air transportation network. In 2013, there were 86 airports in the U.S. that annually handled over 1,000,000 passengers each.[1] The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned.[2] The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; American Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by US Airways.[3] Of the world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.[4][5] In terms of cargo, in 2015, eight of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's second-busiest, Memphis International Airport, just behind Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong. Private aircraft are also used for medical emergencies, government agencies, large businesses, and individuals.
As of 2020[update], there are 19,919 airports in the United States, of which 5,217 are designated as "public use", including for general aviation and other activities.[6] In 2012, 88% of all traffic was through the 62 busiest airports in the country.[7]
Due to the geography of the United States and the generally large distances between major cities, air transportation is the preferred method of travel for trips over 300 miles (480 km), such as for business travelers and long distance vacation travelers. For cities closer together in the Northeastern part of the country (e.g. Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.), the Northeast Corridor rail line carries the majority of intercity traffic.
From the start of the Great Recession to the early 2010s, air traffic in the U.S. declined and the U.S. government reported 1.2 million fewer scheduled domestic flights in 2013 than in 2007.[7] Air traffic volume also dropped sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic.[8] At the same time, the airline industry has also experienced rapid consolidation with all of nation's largest carriers experiencing mergers.[7] The average domestic airline fare steadily increased from 2009 until the first quarter of 2017 where it retreated to the same average of 2009, the lowest the average fare has been since 1995.[9]
- ^ CY 2013 Primary Airports -- Preliminary Data Archived 2014-08-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Edwards, Chris (July 12, 2020). "Privatization". Downsizing the Federal Government. Cato Institute. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ "Scheduled Passengers Carried". International Air Transport Association (IATA). 2011. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
- ^ "2021 Airport Traffic Report" (PDF). Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. April 2022. p. 32.
- ^ "Preliminary World Airport Traffic and Rankings 2013—High Growth Dubai Moves Up to 7th Busiest Airport". March 31, 2014. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
- ^ "Number of U.S. Airports". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- ^ a b c "AIRPORT FUNDING : Aviation Industry Changes Affect Airport Development Costs and Financing" (PDF). Transportation.house.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
- ^ "Full-Year 2021 and December 2021 U.S. Airline Traffic Data | Bureau of Transportation Statistics". www.bts.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
- ^ "Annual U.S. Domestic Average Itinerary Fare in Current and Constant Dollars - Bureau of Transportation Statistics". Rita.dot.gov. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
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