More than 965 million people flew on domestic and international flights in the US last year, up 3.4 per cent from the 933.1 million who travelled by air in 2016, according to the US Department of Transportation (DoT).
As US air passenger traffic marches toward the one-billion mark, the increase is being fueled by growth in both domestic and international travel.
In 2017, domestic passenger numbers increased 3 per cent to 741.6 million, while 223.4 million passengers took international flights to or from the US, up 4.8 per cent.
Both US and foreign airlines benefited from the trend: US carriers transported 3 per cent more passengers on domestic flights and 3.5 per cent more travellers on international flights, while foreign airlines carried 6.5 per cent more passengers on US routes in 2017.
Southwest Airlines carried more passengers overall than any other airline, followed by Delta, American, United, and JetBlue. American transported the most international passengers, trailed by United, Delta, JetBlue, and British Airways.
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport boarded the greatest number of airline passengers, while New York’s JFK was the top gateway for international travellers.
