U.S. Airlines Carried 5.2% More Cargo in August 2021 than August 2020 (Preliminary); Down 2.8% from July 2021

U.S. airlines carried 1,661 thousand tons of cargo in August 2021 (preliminary), an increase of 5.2% over August 2020 according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 15 of the leading U.S. cargo airlines. The year-over-year increase resulted from gains of 4% in domestic cargo and 8.9% in international cargo.

The 15 airlines carry 95% of the total cargo by weight transported on U.S. airlines. Cargo data consists of freight and mail carried within the U.S. and between the U.S. and foreign points.

August 2021 (preliminary) air cargo numbers for 15 U.S. cargo carriers:

• Total: 1,661 thousand tons, up 5.2% from August 2020 (1,579K tons)

• Domestic: 1,221 thousand tons, up 4.0% from August 2020 (1,174K tons)

• International: 440 thousand tons, up 8.9% from August 2020 (405 K tons)

U.S. airline traffic reports are filed monthly with BTS. Final August data will be released on November 12. Complete international data by origin and destination, which is under a six-month confidentiality restriction, will be released in January 2022.

Systemwide Cargo (Domestic + International)

• August 2021 cargo: 1,661K tons
• Change from August 2020: +5.2%
• Change from July 2021:  -2.8%
• Recent high: December 2020 (1,854K tons)
• Recent low: February 2020 (1,255K tons)

Domestic Cargo

• August 2021 cargo: 1,221T tons
• Change from August 2020:  +4%
• Change from July 2021:  -2.2%
• Recent high: December 2020 (1,420T tons)
• Recent low: February 2020 (944T tons)
• Domestic as percent of total cargo August 2020:  74.4%
• Domestic as percent of total cargo August 2021:  73.5%

International Cargo

August 2021 cargo: 440K tons

Change from August 2020:  +8.9%

Change from July 2021:  -4.4%

Recent high: November 2020 (447K tons)

Recent low: February 2020 (311K tons)

Domestic as percent of total cargo August 2020:  25.6%

Domestic as percent of total cargo August 2021:  26.5%

Reporting Notes

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial U.S. air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic. This release includes data received by BTS from 15 U.S. airlines as of October 19 2021.

See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional U.S. airlines numbers through July 2021 for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through April 2021.