US airlines carried 6% more cargo by weight in August 2020 (preliminary) than in August 2019.
The rise was fuelled by a gain of 8% in domestic cargo with a 1% rise in international cargo, according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 13 of the leading cargo airlines.
The 13 airlines carry 95% of the total cargo by weight on US airlines. Cargo data consists of freight and mail carried within the US and between the US and foreign points.
August 2020 (preliminary) air cargo numbers for 13 US carriers:
- Total: 1,511 thousand tons, up 6.2% from August 2019 (1,423T tons)
- Domestic: 1,146 thousand tons, up 8.0% from August 2019 (1,061T tons)
- International: 366 thousand tons, up 0.9% from August 2019 (362T tons)
Table 1: Systemwide Percent Change in US Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2016-2020Cargo = Freight + Mail
| Year-to-Year Percent Change | ||||
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | |
| January | 6.4 | 10.5 | 5.1 | -0.5 |
| February | 6.1 | 9.2 | -0.3 | -0.1 |
| March | 8.0 | 5.8 | -0.2 | -1.6 |
| April | 2.6 | 5.9 | 4.4 | -1.9 |
| May | 10.8 | 9.0 | 3.1 | 0.9 |
| June | 6.8 | 5.5 | -1.1 | 9.1 |
| July | 6.9 | 6.7 | 3.5 | 12.5 |
| August | 9.7 | 5.0 | 0.2 | 6.2* |
| September | 4.3 | 5.0 | -4.4 | |
| October | 10.6 | 5.5 | -1.2 | |
| November | 10.6 | -0.6 | -2.3 | |
| December | 5.6 | 0.3 | 0.7 | |
| Jan-Aug | 7.2 | 7.1 | 1.8 | 3.1 |
| Annual | 7.4 | 5.4 | 0.6 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
Table 2: Domestic Percent Change in US Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2016-2020Domestic cargo has a U.S. origin and U.S. destinationCargo = Freight + Mail
| Year-to-Year Percent Change | ||||
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | |
| January | 4.6 | 10.4 | 6.1 | 2.8 |
| February | 4.9 | 8.7 | 0.7 | 2.2 |
| March | 7.1 | 4.0 | -0.4 | 3.1 |
| April | 1.5 | 4.9 | 7.7 | 3.1 |
| May | 10.8 | 8.9 | 4.5 | 4.2 |
| June | 5.4 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 12.7 |
| July | 5.2 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 15.3 |
| August | 9.4 | 4.8 | 0.1 | 8.0* |
| September | 3.3 | 4.3 | -2.9 | |
| October | 11.1 | 5.7 | 1.8 | |
| November | 11.3 | -0.1 | -1.8 | |
| December | 5.1 | 0.1 | 4.5 | |
| Jan-Aug | 6.2 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 6.5 |
| Annual | 6.7 | 5.0 | 2.2 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market
* August 2020 data is preliminary
Table 3: International Percent Change in US Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2016-2020I
nternational cargo on a U.S. airline is carried between a U.S. airport and a foreign airport.Cargo = Freight + Mail
| Year-to-Year Percent Change | ||||
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | |
| January | 11.4 | 10.6 | 2.2 | -9.8 |
| February | 9.6 | 10.4 | -3.1 | -6.3 |
| March | 10.5 | 10.7 | 0.4 | -13.9 |
| April | 5.3 | 8.2 | -3.9 | -15.7 |
| May | 11.0 | 9.2 | -0.6 | -8.3 |
| June | 10.8 | 8.2 | -5.2 | -0.6 |
| July | 11.3 | 6.7 | -3.6 | 4.6 |
| August | 10.6 | 5.6 | 0.4 | 0.9* |
| September | 7.2 | 7.0 | -8.3 | |
| October | 9.4 | 5.0 | -8.7 | |
| November | 8.8 | -1.8 | -3.5 | |
| December | 7.2 | 0.9 | -10.6 | |
| Jan-Aug | 10.0 | 8.6 | -1.7 | -6.3 |
| Annual | 9.4 | 6.5 | -3.8 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market
* August 2020 data is preliminary
