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McCarran Reverses 12 Month Slide

LAS VEGAS -- For the first time in a year, the monthly passenger traffic count at McCarran International Airport increased compared with the same period 12 months ago.

Nearly 2.83 million passengers arrived and departed at the Las Vegas airport in September, the Clark County Department of Aviation said Friday. That total is up 33 percent from the 2.12 million travelers who used the airport in September 2001.

"Positive numbers are always better than negative numbers, and I anticipate we'll see (improvement) through the remainder of the year," said Randy Walker, Clark County director of aviation.

McCarran's monthly passenger comparisons had been down each month since August 2001.

Although he was pleased with the airport's recent progress, Walker cautioned that month-to-month comparisons must be considered within the context of last fall's unusual and historic events.

Following last year's Sept. 11 attacks in which four commercial passenger aircraft were hijacked by terrorists and later crashed in New York, Washington, D.C., and western Pennsylvania, the federal government implemented an unprecedented closure of U.S. airspace.

For more than two days, no flights were allowed to take off or land at McCarran and other U.S. airports, resulting in the loss of approximately 2,000 flights to and from Las Vegas. The airport subsequently reported a 28.3 percent decline in passenger traffic compared with September 2000.

"Last September was a disaster," Walker said. "We were closed down for (nearly) three days entirely, and the two weeks following that were pretty dismal."

Compared with what Walker called McCarran's last "normal September" in 2000, the airport's recent performance was off by about 139,000 passengers, or 4.7 percent.

"For our planning purposes, over the next few months we're going to look at the 2000 numbers to get a better perspective on what's really happening," Walker said. "That (4.7 percent dip) is on track with what we've been hovering at for the past several months, and I think that comparison gives people the better numbers."

McCarran's year-to-date passenger total through September was 26.47 million, down 3.1 percent from the 27.32 million it handled during the first nine months of 2001.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines was McCarran's top carrier during the month with 838,847 passengers, up 31.6 percent compared with last September. Its year-to-date total improved to 8.13 million, down 2.5 percent from last year.

America West Airlines ranked second for the month with 450,322 passengers, a 31.5 percent jump from a year ago. The Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier's year-to-date traffic topped 4.09 million.

United Airlines saw a 21 percent increase with 208,839 passengers in September. Las Vegas-based National Airlines and Delta Airlines rounded out the month's top five carriers with 208,839 and 182,128 passengers respectively.

12-Month Comparison of Monthly Passenger Statistics at McCarran International Airport

October 2000: 3.32 million

October 2001: 2.78 million

Change: (16.3 percent)

November 2000: 3.11 million

November 2001: 2.55 million

Change: (17.9 percent)

December 2000: 2.96 million

December 2001: 2.54 million

Change: (14.3 percent)

January 2001: 2.78 million

January 2002: 2.51 million

Change: (9.7 percent)

February 2001: 2.85 million

February 2002: 2.6 million

Change: (8.5 percent)

March 2001: 3,448,826

March 2002: 3,206,671

Change: (7 percent)

April 2001: 3.17 million

April 2002: 2.96 million

Change: (6.5 percent)

May 2001: 3.14 million

May 2002: 3.03 million

Change: (3.2 percent)

June 2001: 3.18 million

June 2002: 3.01 million

Change: (5.4 percent)

July 2001: 3.24 million

July 2002: 3.05 million

Change: (6 percent)

August 2001: 3.38 million

August 2002: 3.25 million

Change: (3.8 percent)

September 2001: 2.12 million

September 2002: 2.82 million

Change: 33 percent

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