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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →U.S. commercial aviation carried more than 1.1 billion passengers in fiscal year 2024. The Federal Aviation Administration’s FY2024 figures also show 10.7 million scheduled commercial flights, 1.62 trillion revenue passenger miles, 1.95 trillion available seat miles and an 82.70% passenger load factor. Together, these measures show both the volume of travel and how much airline capacity passengers used.
Five figures that show the scale of U.S. commercial aviation
The figures below come from the FAA’s Air Traffic by the Numbers: FY2024, published in 2025. They describe the U.S. air-carrier system in fiscal year 2024, not calendar year 2024. The passenger statistics in the report identify BTS T-100 Segment Data, dated April 7, 2025, as their underlying source.
| FY2024 measure | Figure | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Passengers flown by air carriers | 1,113,105,545 | Passenger traffic carried during the fiscal year; it is not a count of unique people. |
| Scheduled commercial flights | 10.7 million | The number of scheduled commercial flights reported by the FAA. |
| Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) | 1.62 trillion | The distance traveled by paying passengers, measured in passenger-miles. |
| Available seat miles (ASMs) | 1.95 trillion | The passenger-carrying capacity airlines offered, measured in seat-miles. |
| Passenger load factor | 82.70% | The share of available seat-mile capacity used by paying passengers. |
1. More than 1.1 billion passengers flown
Air carriers flew 1,113,105,545 passengers in FY2024. The FAA says that total was 6.5% above the average for FY2017 through FY2019, the three years before the pandemic. “Passengers flown” is a passenger-traffic measure: an individual who takes multiple flights can contribute more than once, so the total should not be read as 1.1 billion distinct travelers.
2. 10.7 million scheduled commercial flights
The FAA counted 10.7 million scheduled commercial flights in FY2024, a 4.9% increase from FY2023. This is a flight count, not an airport-operations count. An airport operation is one arrival or one departure; a flight typically generates two airport operations, one at each end of its journey.
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3. 1.62 trillion revenue passenger miles
Revenue passenger miles measure paying passenger travel over distance. One passenger carried for one mile represents one passenger mile; longer journeys and more passengers increase the total. The FAA reported 1.62 trillion RPMs in FY2024, up 8.75% from FY2023.
4. 1.95 trillion available seat miles
Available seat miles measure capacity offered over distance: a seat available for one mile contributes one ASM. Airlines provided 1.95 trillion ASMs in FY2024, 9.2% more than in FY2023. This is a capacity measure, not a count of seats sold or passengers carried.
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5. An 82.70% passenger load factor
Load factor relates passenger travel to offered capacity: revenue passenger miles divided by available seat miles. The FAA reported an 82.70% load factor for FY2024 and said it was back to pre-pandemic levels. In practical terms, the figure indicates how much of the system’s seat-mile capacity was used by paying passengers; it does not mean that exactly 82.70% of seats were occupied on every flight.
How to read the figures together
The measures answer different questions. Passenger volume counts traffic, scheduled flights count services, RPMs reflect passenger travel distance, and ASMs reflect capacity over distance. Load factor compares the latter two, so it helps show whether passenger travel kept pace with the capacity airlines supplied.
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In FY2024, available seat miles grew faster than revenue passenger miles compared with FY2023 (9.2% versus 8.75%). The year’s passenger load factor was nevertheless reported at 82.70%, which the FAA characterized as back to pre-pandemic levels. These system-wide totals do not describe the experience on any particular route, airline or flight.
Why airport passenger totals may not match
Airport enplanements and the FAA’s air-carrier passenger-traffic figure are not interchangeable. Enplanements count passenger boardings at airports and are collected on a calendar-year basis for airport categorization and Airport Improvement Program entitlements. The five figures above instead use FY2024 air-carrier measures. Comparing them requires attention to both the definition and the reporting period.
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The FAA’s airport-data page, updated October 6, 2026, says calendar-year 2025 data determines FY2027 airport categories and funding. Its current forecast also provides a separate airport snapshot: in calendar year 2025, 529 FAA towered airports accounted for more than 24 million commercial operations, or 90.4% of all U.S. commercial operations, and 970.2 million enplanements, or 99.4% of U.S. airport enplanements. Those are airport measures for CY2025, not additions to the FY2024 airline figures.
Airport comparisons also need consistent data sources. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics notes that its airport data source changed beginning in 2018 and cautions that some historical comparisons may not be compatible. Its 2025 airport table covers 1,258 airports, including those in U.S. territories.
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What the FAA projects next
The FAA’s FY2026–2046 forecast projects U.S. airline passenger growth averaging 2.15% annually over the forecast period. It projects commercial operations at FAA and contract tower facilities to grow 1.6% annually. These are forecasts, not observed results. The FAA attributes the difference primarily to larger aircraft and higher load factors, which can let airlines carry more passengers without increasing flight numbers at the same pace.
The FY2024 report also cites an estimated civil-aviation economic impact equal to 4.0% of GDP in calendar year 2022, compared with 4.9% in calendar year 2019. The FAA noted that estimates for more recent years were not available in that report, so the 2022 figure should not be treated as a current GDP share.
Quick Recap
Sources and definitions
- FAA, Air Traffic by the Numbers: FY2024 (2025), including the FY2024 air-carrier measures and comparisons with prior years.
- FAA passenger boarding and cargo data, describing calendar-year enplanement collection and airport category and funding uses; page updated October 6, 2026.
- FAA, Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years 2026–2046, for CY2025 towered-airport context and long-term projections.
- Bureau of Transportation Statistics airport data, including its source-change and historical-comparability cautions.
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