US carriers continue to fight falling revenues as pricing remains weak.
November marked the 13th consecutive month that passenger revenue declined from the prior year, primarily fuelled by the 12th consecutive month of tumbling fares, the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) says.
ATA bases its analysis on a sample of carriers, and the association estimates there was a 7% drop in passenger revenues in November compared to the same month in 2008.
Roughly 1% fewer passengers flew on US airlines this November, during which time passenger revenue fell most sharply in transatlantic and transpacific markets, ATA believes.
During November the average price to fly one mile dropped 6.4%.
"While it's good to see the number of passengers beginning to stabilize after several months of pronounced declines, revenue remains depressed. Hopefully this is an indication that a gradual recovery is underway," ATA president and CEO James May says in a statement.
The weak economy also impacted cargo traffic. The latest cargo indicators available show a 1% decline year-over-year in cargo revenue ton miles in October, the 15th consecutive month of falling volumes.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
