North American aviation industry by numbers - the latest trends and data
Routesonline analyses the North American aviation industry, taking a monthly look at the top routes served and revealing the airlines that are dominating the market. We also rank the top ten airports by available departure seat capacity.
October 2017 update - All data provided by OAG
Top North American airline routes
Los Angeles (LAX) - San Francisco (SFO) had the largest number of two-way seats during October 2017, although total year-on-year capacity dropped by 6 per cent. New York LaGuardia (LGA) - Chicago O'Hare (ORD) recorded the largest year-on-year rise in available two-way seat capacity, placing it second in the table of top routes, up from fourth 12 months ago.
According to the latest figures from Sabre, O&D demand rose by 3.7 percent in the first six months of the year, compared with the same period 12 months ago. The route is operated by four carriers: American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Spirit Airlines, which in October had a capacity share of 42.3 percent, 35.8 percent, 14.2 percent and 7.7 percent respectively.
https://infogram.com/na1-top-routes-october-2017-1g0gmj799x83m1q
Top North American airlines
All airlines in the top ten increased year-on-year seat capacity during October 2017, with Florida-based ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines recording the largest percentage rise. Spirit's biggest routes during the month were Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL) - New York LaGuardia (LGA), Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL) - Newark (EWR), Las Vegas McCarran (LAS) - Detroit Metropolitan (DTW) and Las Vegas McCarran (LAS) - Chicago O'Hare (ORD).
https://infogram.com/na1-airlines-october-17-1gk92e7v68l7p16
Top North American airports
San Francisco added the largest number of available departure seats in October 2017, with an additional 186,640 compared with the same time a year ago. SFO operated routes to 130 destinations during the month, 79 of which were domestic.
https://infogram.com/na1-airports-october-2017-1g4qpzxjloqo21y
The full North American aviation industry data
Top North American routes by total available capacity (October 2017):
| Route | Total two-way capacity (October 2017) | Total two-way capacity (October 2016) | Year-on-year change (%) | |
| 1 | Los Angeles (LAX) - San Francisco (SFO) | 433412 | 461169 | -6.0% |
| 2 | New York LaGuardia (LGA) - Chicago O'Hare (ORD) | 365568 | 327832 | 11.5% |
| 3 | Los Angeles (LAX) - New York J F Kennedy (JFK) | 358102 | 338106 | 5.9% |
| 4 | New York J F Kennedy (JFK) - London Heathrow (LHR) | 325394 | 335371 | -3.0% |
| 5 | Toronto Lester B Pearson (YYZ) - Vancouver (YVR) | 309636 | 300937 | 2.9% |
| 6 | Las Vegas McCarran (LAS) - Los Angeles (LAX) | 288309 | 293255 | -1.7% |
| 7 | Los Angeles (LAX) - Chicago O'Hare (ORD) | 278945 | 286305 | -2.6% |
| 8 | Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) – Orlando (MCO) | 278536 | 279549 | -0.4% |
| 9 | Los Angeles (LAX) - Seattle-Tacoma (SEA) | 271064 | 267746 | 1.2% |
| 10 | Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau (YUL) - Toronto Lester B Pearson (YYZ) | 266433 | 271987 | -2.0% |
Top North American airlines by total available departure seats (October 2017):
| Airline | Total available departure seats (October 2017) | Total available departure seats (October 2016) | Year-on-year change (%) |
| American Airlines (AA) | 21117893 | 20586329 | 2.6% |
| Delta Air Lines (DL) | 19156924 | 18740001 | 2.2% |
| Southwest Airlines (WN) | 16886099 | 16294758 | 3.6% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 15598482 | 15097944 | 3.3% |
| Air Canada (AC) | 5095563 | 4839484 | 5.3% |
| JetBlue Airways Corporation (B6) | 3967435 | 3670212 | 8.1% |
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 3701778 | 3518707 | 5.2% |
| Spirit Airlines (NK) | 2518133 | 2159905 | 16.6% |
| Westjet (WS) | 2447593 | 2343166 | 4.5% |
| Frontier Airlines (F9) | 1756350 | 1595340 | 10.1% |
Top North American airports by total available departure seats (October 2017):
| Airport | Total available departure seats (October 2017) | Total available departure seats (October 2016) | Year-on-year change (%) |
| Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson | 5153807 | 5201176 | -0.9% |
| Los Angeles | 4257883 | 4129267 | 3.1% |
| Chicago O'Hare | 4196405 | 4077565 | 2.9% |
| Dallas Dallas/Fort Worth | 3354460 | 3251248 | 3.2% |
| New York J F Kennedy | 3043138 | 3012014 | 1.0% |
| San Francisco | 2991502 | 2804862 | 6.7% |
| Denver | 2969474 | 2996275 | -0.9% |
| Las Vegas McCarran | 2479600 | 2447109 | 1.3% |
| Toronto Lester B Pearson | 2358281 | 2250089 | 4.8% |
| Charlotte | 2337846 | 2252017 | 3.8% |
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