SkyWest Inc. said Tuesday that traffic on its airlines rose 9.4 percent in November as capacity grew and the carrier flew fuller planes.
The company, which operates regional flights for major carriers with its SkyWest and Atlantic Southeast affiliates, said paying passengers flew 1.37 billion miles last month, up from 1.25 billion in November 2008.
Capacity rose 7.8 percent, to 1.78 billion available seat miles. A seat mile is one seat flown one mile.
The average occupancy, or load factor, of flights in November was 77 percent, up from 75.9 percent a year ago.
For the first 11 months of the year, traffic was up 1.7 percent and capacity grew 0.5 percent. Average occupancy was 78.9 percent, compared with 77.6 percent in the same portion of 2008.
SkyWest Airlines operates as United Express, Delta Connection and Midwest Connect and also makes flights for AirTran Airways. Atlantic Southeast flies Delta Connection flights.
Traffic at SkyWest and several low-cost carriers such as Southwest and JetBlue has been growing in recent months, while the record is mixed at the biggest airlines. United posted a traffic gain in November after months of declines, but Delta continues to see less traffic than a year ago.
