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Airline Passenger
Travel To Nearly Double In Two Decades By Jim Douglas |
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March 11, 2012 - The Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) released its annual forecast on Thursday
projecting airline passenger travel will nearly double
in the next 20 years. The report underscores the need to
continue moving forward with implementation of FAA's
Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to
accommodate the projected growth.
"More and more Americans are relying on air travel, and
the Obama Administration is committed to making sure the
U.S. can meet our growing aviation demands," said U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "Our investment
in NextGen is the key to getting passengers and cargo to
their destinations more safely, faster, and with less
impact on the environment." The aviation standard for measuring commercial air travel volume is Revenue Passenger Miles (RPM). An RPM represents one paying passenger traveling one mile. Today's release of the FAA Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years 2012-2032 projects RPMs will nearly double over the next two decades, from 815 billion in 2011 to 1.57 trillion in 2032, with an average increase of 3.2 percent per year. The number of commercial operations at FAA and contract towers is expected to increase by more than 45 percent from current levels. |
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"This
year, more people will be flying more miles, and we expect that
to continue in future years," said FAA Acting Administrator
Michael Huerta. "The American people deserve an aviation system
that can keep pace with our increasing reliance on air travel
and NextGen will help us get there."
Through
NextGen, the FAA is transforming the U.S. air transportation
system with the use of satellite-based technology that will help
passengers reach their destinations more quickly, increase air
traffic capacity, and enhance safety. New, more precise routes
will also reduce fuel burn, carbon emissions, and noise. According to the forecast, the total number of people flying commercially on U.S. airlines will increase by 0.2 percent to 732 million in 2012, then to 746 million in 2013, and then increase more rapidly to 1.2 billion in 2032. The aviation system is expected to reach one billion passengers per year in 2024. |