U.S. airlines carried 0.7% less freight by weight in January 2020 than in January 2019, according to preliminary data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by the 15 airlines that carry the most freight.
The 15 airlines carry 97% of the total freight by weight on U.S. airlines.
January 2020 freight numbers for 15 carriers carrying the most freight (by weight):
• Total: 370 million tons in January 2020, down 0.7% from January 2019 (1.379M tons)
• Domestic: 1.019 million tons in January 2020, up 1.1% from January 2019 (1.008M tons)
• International: .351 million tons in January 2020, down 5.6% from January 2019 (.372M tons)
U.S. air cargo reports are filed monthly with BTS. Final January data will be released on April 16. Complete international data by origin and destination will be released on July 16. Freight data consists of freight carried within the U.S. and between the U.S. and foreign points.
Systemwide Freight (Domestic + International)
January 2020 would be the fourth month in the last five months in which the weight of freight on U.S. airlines declined from the same month of the previous year. The 0.7% decrease in freight weight from January 2019 reversed a 0.6% increase from December 2018 to December 2019. It was a smaller decline than the year-to-year decrease in each of the months from September through November.
