Airline October Operational Performance - Allegiant again tops them all!

The airlines continue to struggle to fill planes and keep fares high enough to make money.  October saw low-cost airlines continue to post traffic and capacity increases with AirTran, Allegiant, and JetBlue the only carriers that grew in size and traffic. 

Allegiant continues to grow at very strong rates.  Allegiant Air is a low-cost model airline that has a large operation at Orlando Sanford Airport.  Most of Allegiant flights operate a few times weekly between smaller cities that have little airline service and some key leisure destinations including Orlando Sanford. 

The major network carriers continued to post reductions in capacity and traffic with Continental the only network carrier showing traffic increases and a modest capacity decrease. 

• AirTran – Traffic up 5.2%;  Capacity up 7.0%;  Load Factor 79.2%
• Alaska – Traffic up 3.0%;  Capacity down 1.6%;  Load Factor 77.0%
• Allegiant – Traffic up 36.4%;  Capacity up 38.9%;  Load Factor 89.6%
• American – Traffic down 2.6%;  Capacity down 7.3%;  Load Factor 83.1%
• Continental – Traffic up 1.7%;  Capacity down 2.6%;  Load Factor 83.0%
• Delta – Traffic down 6.5%;  Capacity down 8.3%;  Load Factor 84.2%
• JetBlue – Traffic up 7.2%;  Capacity up 7.1%;  Load Factor 80.8%
• Southwest – Traffic up 1.9%;  Capacity down 9.4%;  Load Factor 79.2%
• United – Traffic down 1.6%;  Capacity down 4.3%;  Load Factor 83.1%
• US Airways – Traffic down 0.8%;  Capacity down 1.6%;  Load Factor 82.6%