Inter-Office Memo Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Date: March 30, 2009 To: Statistics Recipients From: Krys T. Bart, A.A.E., President/CEO Subject: RENO-TAHOE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT PASSENGER STATISTICS U.S. DOMESTIC INDUSTRY OVERVIEW FOR FEBRUARY Average Load Factor: 75.5% (all RNO carriers) Air Fares: Down 14% vs. same period last year 1 Number of Flights: Down 9.7%* Capacity of Seats: Down 8.1%* Fuel: $44.76 per barrel ending February 2009 * Source: APGDat RNO OVERVIEW FOR FEBRUARY Average Load Factor: 79.8% Total Passengers: Down 25.7% Air Cargo: Down 21.6% Number of Flights: Down 21.8% Capacity of Seats: Down 17.5% RNO AIRPORT SUMMARY RNO airlines reported 300,028 total passengers, a 25.7% decline for the month of February 2009, or 103,791 fewer passengers, the highest decline in any single month at RNO since September 2001. The February decline in total passengers also represents the eleventh month in a row where the monthly passenger totals have had a double digit decrease over the same period in the previous year. For comparative purposes, it should be noted that February 2009 had one fewer day than Feburary 2008 (leap year) accounting for 16,000 fewer seats in and out of RNO for that day. The airlines continued to reduce airfares throughout the nation in an effort to fill seats in response to the nation s deepening financial crisis. 1 Domestic leisure fares as reported by Harrell Associates
The February 2009 average airline load factor in RNO was a respectable 79.8% with a year-over-year increase of 4.8 points over February 2008. However, this increase was largely due to a reduction in capacity in February 2009 of 17 fewer daily flights and 1,658 fewer daily seats as compared to February 2008. The industry continues to reduce capacity across the nation in response to the economy and falling demand for air travel. Compounding the softening demand for passenger travel, U.S. airlines saw an overall drop of 21.8% in air cargo shipments in February 2009. RNO Air Cargo was also down 21.6% at 7,675,284 pounds, or 3,480.9 metric tons, during the month of February. The continuing downturn in air freight is a result of the struggling world economy and the only response available to airlines to counter the strongly falling demand is to further reduce capacity. The economic downturn in the U.S. has had a sizable negative impact on the U.S. air cargo market throughout the second half of 2008 and during the first two months of 2009. However, IATA reported on March 26, 2009, that the U.S. air cargo market may have started stabilize based on three consecutive months holding stable in the -22% to -23% range. RNO TOTAL PASSENGERS In February 2009, a total of 300,028 passengers traveled to and from RNO. This is a decrease of 25.7%, or 103,791 fewer passengers, from the same period last year and the largest year-over-year percentage decline recorded at RNO since the 35% decline seen following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. The substantial decrease in February traffic is partially attributed to February 2009 having one fewer day in the month than Feburary 2008 (leap year) which accounted for over 16, 000 fewer seats in and out of RNO. The more significant concern remains that demand for air travel has plummeted as grim economic news continues to pile up. Year to date total passenger count for the first two months of 2009 was 595,855 which is 24.5% lower than the same period 2008. RNO TOTAL CARGO A total of 7,675,284 pounds, or 3,480.9 metric tons, was handled at RNO during the month of February for a 21.6% decrease compared to February 2008. Contributing to the February decline, DHL completed their plans to cease all domestic operations in the United States and had no operations in February. UPS and Fed-Ex also posted February 2009 losses of 23.4% and 8.3%, respectively, compared to February 2008. FedEx is citing significantly slowing demand for its services amid weakening sales and lower consumer spending. UPS states they are in the grip of a financial crisis that is changing lives, closing businesses and shattering economies which translates to a lower demand for shipping.
AIRLINE LOAD FACTORS In the month of February, RNO airlines reported a respectable average load factor of 79.8% which is approximately 4.8 points higher than the average load factor in February 2008. It should be noted that this increase in load factor is reflective of a reduction of 17 flights per day compared to February 2008. Five airlines reported a RNO load factor which was higher than their system-wide load factor. Alaska/Horizon, American, Delta, Skywest and US Airways reported an increase in average load factor compared to their system-wide average. Southwest, United and Allegiant reported RNO load factors lower than their system-wide average for February, although all three improved their RNO load factor performance compared to the past two months with Allegiant gaining significant ground, 24.1 points, over January 2009. February 2009 RNO Airline Load Factor and System-Wide Comparison Airline Reno LF System LF Difference Allegiant 79.0% 90.2% -11.8 Alaska/Horizon 84.2% 67.2% 17.0 US Airways 80.5% 77.2% 3.3 Skywest - Delta Connection 91.6% 74.9% 16.7 United 72.9% 73.2% -0.3 American 80.8% 73.9% 6.9 Delta 89.0% 78.0% 11.0 Southwest 60.5% 69.1% -8.6 AIRLINE MARKET SHARE Increased share realized by Southwest, American and United in February 2009 was due to the reduction of airlines in the RNO market. With the bankruptcy of ExpressJet and Aloha Airlines and the departure of Continental Airlines in 2008, RNO is now served by seven major airlines providing 67 daily departures to 16 airports. This compares with 88 daily departures to 23 destinations in February 2008. The departure of the above mentioned airlines constituted a shift of 6.42% in market share. Southwest Airlines had the largest increase in market share in RNO with an increase of 4.78 market share points compared to February 2008. United Airlines added a forth RNO-DEN flight February through March and gained 2.06 market share points. Delta s 2.5% decrease in share reflects their seasonal cancellation of the non-stop ATL-RNO flight in February. Alaska/Horizon had a slight decrease at 8.35% share due to their change from 737 aircraft to the smaller Q400 aircraft last year.
Febuary 2009 RNO Airline Market Share Airline FEB. 2009 FEB. 2008 Change Alaska/Horizon 8.35% 8.73% -0.38 Allegiant 0.63% 0.56% 0.07 American 10.19% 7.97% 2.22 Delta 2.31% 4.89% -2.58 Delta Connection 3.64% 2.93% 0.71 Southwest 53.38% 48.6% 4.78 United 13.53% 11.47% 2.06 US Airways 7.04% 7.38% -.34 Non-Scheduled 0.94% 1.04% -0.1 DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL CHARTER PASSENGERS Year-over-year, RNO charter traffic decreased 33% in February 2009 with Allegiant reporting a total of 2,827 charter passengers. This decrease in charter activity is a direct result of a new contract between Harrah s Charter and Allegiant Airlines to reduce longhaul charter flights to and from east coast markets. A total of 23 Harrah s charter flights, each using an MD-80 aircraft with 130 available seats, occurred in February 2009 compared to 27 charter flights in February 2008 and resulted in 1,390 fewer passengers. SCHEDULED DEPARTURES AND SEATS During the month of February, RNO reported 1,904 scheduled departures, or 21.8% fewer departures than February 2008. This decrease is part of a nation wide reduction in airline capacity as a direct result of increased fuel costs that peaked at $147 per barrel in July 2008 followed by a sharp decline in the U.S. economy that continues into 2009. The RNO total monthly available outbound seats of 234,668 in February 2009 represents a 17.5% decrease year-over-year due to the reduction in daily departures and the downsizing of aircraft. TOTAL OPERATIONS Total RNO airport operations for the month of February declined 28% to 7,498 operations which is 2,922 fewer operations than February 2008. This decline is attributed to a decrease in scheduled service and general aviation flying to and from RNO. Total airport operations consists of scheduled air carrier arrivals and departures, air taxi flights, general aviation landings and take-offs, and military aircraft operations. KTB/cf
TOTAL PASSENGERS Jan Feb Mar Apr May 475,000 June July Aug Sept Oct 425,000 Nov Dec PASSENGERS 375,000 325,000 275,000 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC PASSENGERS¹ PASSENGERS¹ Month 2007 2008 Percent Change 2009 Percent Change January 395,878 385,612-2.59% 295,827-23.28% February 393,086 403,819 2.73% 300,028-25.70% March 481,370 435,495-9.53% 1st Q Total 1,270,334 1,224,926-3.57% April 406,237 354,768-12.67% May 421,078 370,145-12.10% June 458,338 403,441-11.98% 2nd Q Total 1,285,653 1,128,354-12.23% July 465,487 411,332-11.63% August 473,858 412,002-13.05% September 398,219 337,851-15.16% 3rd Q Total 1,337,564 1,161,185-13.19% October 397,367 327,146-17.67% November 375,463 283,256-24.56% December 377,706 309,771-17.99% 4th Q Total 1,150,536 920,173-20.02% TOTALS 5,044,087 4,434,638-12.08% 595,855-24.52% ¹Per Landing Reports % change YTD
MONTHLY ENPLANED PASSENGERS PASSENGERS¹ Jan Month DIFFERENCE Feb January 200,334 195,981 149,813-23.56% Mar February 195,997 200,851 150,894-24.87% Apr March 240,880 221,875 May April 207,443 179,845 June May 209,557 183,861 July June 229,576 201,271 Aug July 232,164 205,791 Sept August 235,318 205,576 Oct September 202,311 172,607 Nov October 201,859 166,339 Dec November 188,434 141,456 December 183,595 148,563 TOTALS 2,527,468 2,224,016 300,707 53.44% ¹Per Landing Reports Monthly Enplaned Passengers 245,000 225,000 PASSENGERS 205,000 185,000 165,000 145,000 125,000 January February March April May June July August September October November December
MONTHLY DEPLANED PASSENGERS PASSENGERS¹ Month DIFFERENCE Jan January 195,544 189,631 146,014-23.00% Feb February 197,089 202,968 149,134-26.52% Mar March 240,490 213,620 Apr April 198,794 174,923 May May 211,521 186,284 June June 228,762 202,170 July July 233,323 205,541 Aug August 238,540 206,426 Sept September 195,908 165,244 Oct October 195,508 160,807 Nov November 187,635 141,800 Dec December 194,111 161,208 TOTALS 2,517,225 2,210,622 295,148 55.64% ¹Per Landing Reports - Scheduled and Charter Monthly Deplaned Passengers 245,000 225,000 PASSENGERS 205,000 185,000 165,000 145,000 125,000 January February March April May June July August September October November December
MONTHLY ENPLANED PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR SUMMARY 100% 95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50% 45% 40% Monthly Load Factor Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2007 73.10% 75.70% 81.80% 76.45% 77.46% 82.96% 80.80% 81.90% 75.80% 77.00% 71.10% 69.30% 2008 68.10% 75.06% 75.20% 72.51% 72.54% 79.51% 79.86% 79.13% 81.62% 76.59% 70.7% 69.70% 2009 71.02% 79.81% ENPLANED PASSENGERS* LOAD FACTOR (%) DIFFERENCE Month (2009 / 2008) January 198,737 195,981 149,813 73.10 68.10 71.02 2.9 February 193,576 200,851 149,239 75.65 75.06 79.81 4.8 March 237,470 221,875 81.78 75.20 April 204,156 179,845 76.45 72.51 May 206,369 183,861 77.46 72.54 June 226,577 201,271 82.96 79.51 July 229,238 205,791 80.75 79.86 August 232,031 205,576 81.89 79.13 September 199,578 172,607 75.77 81.62 October 198,499 166,339 77.07 76.59 November 184,384 141,456 71.48 70.67 December 181,472 148,563 69.13 69.67 *** 2,492,087 2,224,016 299,052 76.96 75.04 75.41 3.8 * Per Landing Reports *** AVERAGE OF AIRLINE LOAD FACTORS
LOAD FACTOR BY AIRLINE Carrier Seats Available ***Enplaned Passengers 2009 Load Factor (%) 2008 Load Factor (%) Difference Alaska / Horizon 14,980 12,606 84.2% 79.5% 4.7 Allegiant 1,200 948 79.0% 81.2% -2.2 American* 17,100 14,642 80.8% 80.5% 0.3 Delta 3,750 3,338 89.0% 87.1% 1.9 Delta Connection 6,153 5,635 91.6% 89.0% 2.6 Southwest 134,078 81,104 60.5% 64.7% -4.2 United 28,018 20,439 72.9% 72.7% 0.2 US Airways 13,078 10,527 80.5% 73.9% 6.6 AVERAGE** 218,357 149,239 79.8% 75.1% 4.8 *LOAD FACTORS REPORTED BY AIRLINES ** ENPLANED PASSENGERS DOES NOT INCLUDE CHARTER PASSENGERS Airline Load Factor 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% Average 79.8% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Alaska / Horizon Allegiant American* Delta Delta Connection Southwest United US Airways
DAILY ENPLANED SEATS AVAILABLE 12,000 11,500 11,000 10,500 10,000 9,500 9,000 8,500 8,000 7,500 7,000 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2007 10,130 10,099 10,505 10,332 10,430 10,633 10,633 10,633 10,329 10,122 9,901 10,086 2008 10,064 10,256 10,153 9,768 9,433 9,645 9,645 9,645 8,804 8,682 8398 8,520 2009 8,209 8,381
TOTAL AIR CARRIER MARKET SHARE Carrier Passengers Alaska Air Group 25,050 8.35% Allegiant 1,885 0.63% American 30,566 10.19% Delta 6,932 2.31% Delta Connection* 10,918 3.64% Southwest 160,154 53.38% United 40,584 13.53% US Airways 21,112 7.04% Non-Scheduled 2,827 0.94% Totals 300,028 100.00% *Delta Connection carriers: ExpressJet and SkyWest Percentage of Total Alaska Air Group, 8.4% Allegiant, 0.6% American, 10.2% Delta, 2.3% Delta Connection*, 3.6% Non-Scheduled, 0.9% US Airways, 7.0% Southwest, 53.4% United, 13.5%
Jan TOTAL PASSENGERS DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC SCHEDULED PASSENGERS Feb Mar Apr 540,000 May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec PASSENGERS 490,000 440,000 390,000 340,000 290,000 240,000 January February March April May June July August September October November December DOMESTIC CHARTER PASSENGERS 7,500 6,500 5,500 PASSENGERS 4,500 3,500 2,500 1,500 January February March April May June July August September October November December 2009 DOMESTIC¹ INTERNATIONAL¹ 2009 TOTAL 2009 Charter 2008 Charter DIFFERENCE MONTH Scheduled Charter Scheduled Charter Passengers Passengers Passengers Passengers January 294,166 1,661 0 0 295,827 1,661 4,509-63.2% February 297,201 2,827 0 0 300,028 2,827 4,217-33.0% March April May June July August September October November December TOTALS 591,367 4,488 0 0 595,855 4,488 8,726-48.6% ¹Per Landing Reports
MONTHLY SCHEDULED DEPARTURES 2,900 2,700 2,500 2,300 2,100 1,900 1,700 1,500 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2007 2,462 2,239 2,534 2,468 2,520 2,544 2,628 2,644 2,449 2,489 2,408 2,533 2008 2,608 2,434 2,598 2,396 2,401 2,445 2,515 2,455 2,030 2,069 1,905 1,955 2009 1,949 1,904
MONTHLY AVAILABLE SEATS 340,000 320,000 300,000 280,000 260,000 240,000 220,000 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2007 306,097 277,791 314,406 306,129 308,027 307,152 318,384 319,833 295,522 300,765 280,121 292,630 2008 301,118 284,419 307,910 280,220 278,666 278,969 287,630 281,406 246,105 251,452 230,707 238,225 2009 237,926 234,668
TOTAL OPERATIONS 15,000 14,000 13,000 Number of Operations 12,000 11,000 10,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Number of Operations 07 to 08 Percent Month Change January 12,628 10,163 8,985-11.59% February 10,322 10,420 7,498-28.04% March 13,933 10,948 April 11,424 10,501 May 12,734 10,807 June 11,733 11,753 July 12,657 11,599 August 12,057 11,837 September 11,706 11,572 October 10,934 8,889 November 10,624 8,535 December 10,054 8,083 TOTALS 140,806 125,107 16,483 62.19% % change YTD
TOTAL CARGO Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Dec CARGO POUNDS (in millions) 15.00 14.00 13.00 12.00 11.00 10.00 9.00 8.00 7.00 6.00 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC CARGO (IN POUNDS) PERCENT Month METRIC TONS CHANGE January 10,293,920 11,231,880 8,777,047 3,980.5-21.86% February 10,313,441 9,786,730 7,675,284 3,480.9-21.57% March 11,129,070 9,519,983 1st Quarter 31,736,431 30,538,593 April 9,653,603 9,915,236 May 10,718,860 9,923,064 June 10,483,160 8,893,972 2nd Quarter 30,855,623 28,732,272 July 10,377,947 9,811,115 August 11,736,465 9,763,038 September 10,311,212 9,890,572 3rd Quarter 32,425,624 29,464,725 October 10,813,406 9,971,505 November 10,646,261 8,811,895 December 12,772,059 12,713,339 4th Quarter 34,231,726 31,496,739 TOTALS 129,249,404 120,232,329 16,452,331 7,461.4-21.72% % change YTD