U.S. Airlines Carried 5.2% More Cargo in August 2021 Than August 2020

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)

Table 1: Systemwide Percent Change in U.S. Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2017-2020
Cargo = Freight + Mail

 

Year-to-Year Percent Change

2017 – 2018

2018 – 2019

2019 – 2020

2020 – 2021

January

10.6

4.9

-1.4

13.4

February

9.3

-0.4

-0.4

9.5

March

5.7

-0.3

-1.4

21.0

April

5.7

4.5

-1.3

20.0

May

9.0

3.1

1.2

7.4

June

5.6

-1.2

9.5

5.6

July

6.6

3.6

12.8

4.0

August

4.8

0.2

5.7

5.2

September

4.9

-4.5

18.6

 –  

October

5.7

-1.2

13.0

 –  

November

-0.7

-2.2

13.0

 –  

December

0.2

0.7

16.9

 –  

YTD Jan – Jul

7.1

1.8

3.2

10.5

Annual

5.4

0.5

7.3

 –  

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Market
* August 2021 data is preliminary

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%

Table 2: Domestic Percent Change in U.S. Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2017-2020
Domestic cargo has a U.S. origin and U.S. destination
Cargo = Freight + Mail

 

Year-to-Year Percent Change

2017 – 2018

2018 – 2019

2019 – 2020

2020 – 2021

January

10.3

6.2

0.5

12.5

February

9.0

0.7

1.9

4.7

March

3.9

-0.2

3.4

15.9

April

4.9

8.2

3.8

12.6

May

9.0

4.6

4.7

2.0

June

4.6

0.7

13.3

2.6

July

6.7

6.7

15.8

1.1

August

4.7

0.2

7.2

4.0

September

4.1

-2.8

21.7

October

6.1

1.7

14.3

November

-0.4

-1.6

13.6

December

0.1

4.6

15.9

YTD Jan – Jul

6.5

3.3

6.4

6.7

Annual

5.0

2.4

9.8

           

 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market
* August 2021 data is preliminary

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%

Table 3: International Percent Change in U.S. Airlines Cargo by Weight from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2017-2020
International 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

2017 – 2018

2018 – 2019

2019 – 2020

2020 – 2021

January

11.3

1.5

-6.7

16.0

February

10.2

-3.4

-6.7

24.0

March

10.6

-0.5

-13.6

36.9

April

7.7

-4.5

-15.4

44.6

May

8.9

-1.0

-8.4

24.6

June

8.4

-5.7

-0.7

14.5

July

6.5

-4.1

4.5

12.9

August

5.2

0.1

1.6

8.9

September

6.8

-8.8

10.5

 –  

October

4.6

-8.7

9.5

 –  

November

-1.5

-3.7

11.4

 –  

December

0.4

-10.7

20.1

 –  

YTD Jan – Jul

8.5

-2.2

-5.7

22.1

Annual

6.4

-4.2

0.4

 –  

           

 Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market
* August data is preliminary