Austin Air Travel Plunges More Than 75 Percent Amid Coronavirus

AUSTIN, TX — Air travel across the U.S. has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has not been immune with a drop in activity of more than 75 percent, officials said Monday.

Passenger traffic in July dropped by 75.3 percent compared to July 2019, officials said in an emailed advisory. All told, a mere 406,065 passengers flew from the local air travel hub in July, officials added.

July 2020 emplanements — the airport jargon referring to people boarding an airplane — totaled 208,539, down 74.6 percent from the comparable period last year. Airport officials provided a breakdown by major carrier:

• Southwest Airlines passengers totaled 140,931, down 74.4 percent.
• American Airlines passengers totaled 88,116, down 67.4 percent.
• Spirit Airlines passengers totaled 65,797, down 18.7 percent.
• United Airlines passengers totaled 28,590, down 87.3 percent.
• Delta Air Lines passengers totaled 27,608, down 87.5 percent.
• Alaska Airlines passengers totaled 20,848, down 67.2 percent.
• Allegiant Air passengers totaled 13,918, down 43.1 percent.
• Frontier Airlines passengers totaled 11,921, down 88.7 percent.
• JetBlue Airways passengers totaled 4,839, down 90.5 percent.
• Sun Country passengers totaled 3,119, down 54.6 percent.
• Aeromexico passengers totaled 378. No percentage decrease was provided.

Domestic cargo traffic yielded a mixed bag, with some companies posting increases while othesr posted steep drops in activity. All told, air cargo totaled 19.3 million pounds, up 37.3 percent. International air cargo, however, saw nearly 100 percent drop, with 17,630 pounds delivered — a drop of 98.8 percent, officials said.

A breakdown:

• Federal Express carried 7,869,493 pounds, up 6.1 percent.
• Atlas Air carried 7,115,345 pounds, with no comparison from last year provided.
• United Parcel Service carried 2,814,346 pounds, down 13.4 percent.

Air Services transferred 4,209,478 pounds of mail, down 30.9 percent, and 7,350,319 lbs. of belly freight, down 42.6 percent, officials added.

In terms of aircraft operations, general aviation activity totaled 18,605 for January – July 2020, down 23.7 percent. Combined operations (including commercial and military) totaled 77,701, down 35.6 percent.

Airport in Fodor’s 2019 Travel Awards.