August 2026 U.S. airline passenger traffic down 3.7% year over year

On November 12, 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) released statistics showing that U.S. airline system passenger traffic in August 2026 was 83.3 million, down 3.7% year over year and 3.8% below the historical high of 86.8 million in August 2024. Of this, domestic passenger traffic was 72.0 million and international passenger traffic was 11.5 million, with international down 6.5% year over year. After seasonal adjustment, August boardings were 79.6 million, up 0.4% month over month and 4.3% below the historical peak in June 2024. This is currently the latest monthly statistic released by BTS, and there are no subsequent developments on the event.