U.S. airlines hit records in April

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WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) -- Passengers on U.S. airlines rose 1.6 percent in April compared to April 2011, resulting in record high load factors, the Department of Transportation said.

Load factors are defined as the number of passenger miles flown -- one passenger flying 10 miles, for example -- compared to the total capacity of the aircraft.

In April, the load factor for domestic fights was 83.5 percent, while on international flights it was 80.5 percent. Put together, the load factor for all flights flown by U.S. airlines was 82.6 percent. All three load factors were records for the month of April, the department said Thursday.

In hard numbers, U.S. airlines carried 61.5 million passengers in April and carried 233.5 million in the first four months of 2012.

Domestic flights carried 203.4 million passengers January through April, while international flights on U.S. airlines carried 30.1 million, the department said.