Wherever possible, ATA data reflects the entire U.S. airline industry as defined by the Department of Transportation. U.S. airlines transport about 35 percent of global passenger and cargo traffic as measured in revenue ton kilometers. In 2007, U.S. airlines enplaned 769.2 million passengers (averaging 2.1 million per day) in scheduled service and nearly 19.5 million tons of cargo (averaging 53,311 tons per day) in scheduled and nonscheduled services using more than 7,800 aircraft.
| Top U.S. Airlines in 2007 by Passengers Enplaned in Scheduled Service |
| Rank |
Airline |
Enplanements (000) |
| 1 |
Southwest |
101,911 |
| 2 |
American |
98,165 |
| 3 |
Delta |
72,924 |
| 4 |
United |
68,363 |
| 5 |
Northwest |
53,678 |
| 6 |
Continental |
48,975 |
| 7 |
US Airways |
42,172 |
| 8 |
AirTran |
23,741 |
| 9 |
SkyWest |
22,047 |
| 10 |
JetBlue |
21,305 |
Source: BTS
Where industrywide data is not available on a timely basis, ATA uses sample groups to approximate industry trends or refers visitors to data from the appropriate government agencies.