Travelers still staying on ground

The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines in June 2009 declined by 6.2 percent from June 2008, dropping by 4.2 million to 63.6 million, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports. June was the 15th consecutive month with a decrease in passengers from the prior year.

BTS, in a release of preliminary data, reports that U.S. airlines carried 5.9 percent fewer domestic passengers than in June 2008. International passengers on U.S. carriers decreased 8.5 percent.

For the first six months of 2009, the number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines declined by 8.9 percent from the same period in 2008, dropping to 345.5 million, 33.7 million fewer than a year earlier, and the lowest January-to-June total since 2004.

U.S. airlines carried 8.8 percent fewer domestic passengers and 9.6 percent fewer international passengers in the first six months of 2009 than during the same period in 2008.