Alaska Air Group Inc., parent of Alaska Airlines, reported a 10.7 percent increase in traffic on a 4.5 percent increase in capacity in May.
That resulted in a 4.6 percentage point increase in load factor, to 81.4 percent.
AirTran Airways said Wednesday that May traffic rose 8.4 percent, pushing average occupancy on planes past the 80 percent mark with the peak summer season approaching.
Alaska Airlines also reported that 91.5 percent its flights arrived on time in May, a 5.8 percentage point increase compared to May 2009.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico.
Alaska is Hawaii’s ninth-largest airline, according to PBN research. Alaska flew 600,000 passengers between Hawaii and the Mainland in 2009, according to an airline spokeswoman. By year’s end, the carrier is expected to operate 101 weekly flights to Hawaii from the West Coast.
AirTran said paying passengers flew 1.67 billion miles last month, compared with 1.54 billion miles in May 2009.
The airline increased capacity by 4.6 percent, to 2.07 billion available seat miles. Airlines raise capacity by adding flights or, in some cases, using bigger planes.
Average occupancy rose 2.8 points to 80.8 percent, an AirTran record for May.
Continental also reported Tuesday that May traffic increased 3.7 percent, as air travel seems to be recovering from recession lows.
