Enplanements trend downward statewide (Revised)

Editor’s note: The Fort Smith Regional Airport issued a revised October report Tuesday (Nov. 8) morning. The Fort Smith enplanement numbers in this report reflect the revised numbers.

Enplanement traffic at the Fort Smith Regional Airport was down in October, and pushed the year-to-date numbers down compared to the 2010 period.

October enplanements at the airport totaled 7,835, down 4.81% compared to the 8,231 during October 2010. For the first 10 months of 2011, enplanements at the airport total 71,465, down 0.66% compared to the 71,942 in the 2010 period.

Activity at the airport was improving during the first of the year, with enplanements totaling 18,674 for the first quarter of 2011, up 6.7% compared to the same period in 2010.

American Airlines reported 4,504 enplanements in October down compared to the 4,879 during October 2010. Delta had 3,331 enplanements out of Fort Smith, down from the 3,352 in October 2010.

For the year, Delta has seen enplanement gains in Fort Smith and American is down. Delta, flying passengers to and from its Memphis hub, has 29,380 Fort Smith enplanements between January and October, up 9.3% compared to the 2010 period. American has 41,815 enplanements in the 10-month period, down 7.2%.

Enplanements at the airport totaled 86,129 during 2010, up 9.81% over 2009 — an increase that ended two consecutive years of enplanement declines at the airport. Enplanements in 2009 at the Fort Smith airport totaled 78,432, down 9.8% from the 87,030 enplanements in 2008. Passenger enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 87,030 in 2008, down 12.2% from the 99,127 enplanements in 2007. The 2009 traffic total was the lowest at the airport in the past 10 years.

Year-to-date, Delta reports 20.49 million passengers in its regional system, down 1.8% compared to the 2010 period.

American Eagle reported 14.478 million passenger boardings during the first 10 months of 2011, up 7% compared to the 2010 period. The airline had 1.575 million passengers in October, up 5.1% compared to October 2010.

ARKANSAS TRAFFIC
Enplanement levels during the second half of 2011 are also declining in Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock.

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) saw its September traffic hit 44,104, down 9.41% compared to September 2010. (XNA has not posted October enplanements as of Nov. 7.)

During the first nine months of 2011 the airport reports 425,329 enplanements, up just 0.21% compared to the 424,439 in the 2010 period. Traffic at the airport has fallen since June, when year-to-date traffic for the first half of the year was up almost 4% compared to the 2010 period. During 2010, XNA had 570,625 enplanements, up 5.49% over 2009.

Enplanements continued in September a downward decline at the Little Rock National Airport. Enplanements at the airport totaled 91,655, down 0.91% compared to September 2010. During the first nine months of 2011, enplanements totaled 820,195, down 2.78% (The airport did not have October data as of Nov. 7). In 2010, the airport had 1.129 million enplanements, down 3.8% compared to 2009, and down 5.3% from 2008.

HOLIDAY TRAFFIC
The Air Transport Association of America (ATA) recently announced it expects about 23.2 million air travelers will fly on U.S. carriers’ domestic and international routes during the Thanksgiving holiday period. The passenger number is a 2% decline from the 2010 period, but ATA officials say flights will be more packed because of fewer planes operating in the system.

According to the ATA, the number of “mainline passenger” planes in the U.S. fleet total 3,713, down from 3,718 in 2009 and well below the 4,488 in 2000. The non-mainline fleet — regional feeder aircraft — totaled 2,577 in 2010, down from 2,680 in 2009. The ATA does not have fleet numbers for 2011.

The ATA also said the 2011 Thanksgiving passenger volume forecast will decline 12% compared to the peak volumes reached in the same period in 2006.

“While demand is down from last year and remains well below the 2006 peak, passengers still should expect full flights during the Thanksgiving holiday travel season as airlines have begun to reduce capacity and limit the number of seats available for sale due in part to rising cost pressures,” ATA Vice President and Chief Economist John Heimlich said in a statement.