During July, regionals continued to benefit across the board from strong summer demand from passengers, including double-digit growth in passengers carried, if not in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and available seat miles (ASMs). The only carriers suffering losses are those associated with past or continuing bankruptcies, including Northwest (NWACQ) and Delta (DALQ), although Delta Connection carriers are maintaining their own so far, with the exception of Comair.

Air Wisconsin (AWAC) (US Airways Express)

Air Wisconsin experienced a double-digit decrease in traffic across the board both for July and year to date. The airline flew 511,577 passengers during the month, a decline of 23.2 percent, while RPMs dropped 24.6 percent to 202.2 million. ASMs experienced a similar decrease of 18.5 percent to 265 million. Load factor decreased 6.10 points to 76.3 percent. Year to date, enplanements dropped 18.4 percent to 3,490,687. RPMs dropped 21.6 percent to 1.355 billion and ASMs declined 18.8 percent to 1.867 billion. Load factor declined 2.60 points to 72.6 percent.

American Eagle & Executive Airlines (American)

Systemwide traffic rose 11.6 percent to 835.6 million, while ASMs rose 6.2 percent to 1.061 billion. Load factor increased 3.8 points to 78.7 percent, while enplanements increased 8.4 percent to 2,009,699. Executive Airlines posted a 5.1 percent gain in RPMs to 60.5 million, while American Eagle was up 12.2 percent to 775 million. ASMs for the two carriers increased 4.2 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively. Executive posted 86.7 million ASMs to American Eagle's 974.4 million. Load factor for Executive rose 0.6 points to 69.8 percent, compared to the 4.1 point increase at AE to 79.5 percent. Executive boarded 286,417 passengers, up 5.6 percent compared to an 8.9 percent increase for AE to 1,723,282. Year to date, the American Eagle system carried 12,675,755 passengers, up 8.6 percent while Executive alone carried 1,697,987, up 1.7 percent. ASMs for the system increased 9.4 percent to 7,090 billion. Executive ASMs were down 1.3 percent to 554.4 million. RPMs rose 16.8 percent to 5.286 billion, as Executive posted a 2.5 percent gain to 355.2 million. Load factor for the system increased 4.7 points to 74.5 percent, as Executive experienced a 2.4 percent rise in load factor to 64.1 percent.

Comair (Delta Connection)

Traffic statistics for this wholly owned subsidiary of Delta were down across the board. RPMs totaled 531.6 million, down 6.7 percent, while ASMs dropped 13.7 percent to 667.7 million. Load factor rose 5.9 points to 79.6 percent. Year to date, Comair flew 3.086 billion RPMs, down 13.5 percent, while ASMs reached 4.141 billion, down 21.1 percent. Load factor was up 6.5 points, to 74.5 percent.

Delta Connection (Chautauqua, Freedom, Mesa, SkyWest)

Delta Connection carriers flew 1.089 billion RPMs last month, up from 354,088 when ASA was reported separately. Today, ASA is part of the SkyWest network. ASMs for the four carriers reached 1.331 billion, as load factor rose 6.1 points to 81.8 percent. Year to date, the carriers flew 6,713 billion RPMs, while ASMs reached 8.490 billion. Load factor increased 6.1 points, to 79.1 percent.

ERA

Alaska-based ERA Aviation experienced a drop in RPMs, ASMs and enplanements, even as load factors rose during the month. It carried 40,094 passengers, down 5.06 percent, while RPMs dropped 3.39 percent to 4.9 million. ASMs declined 8.65 percent to 8.69 million. Load factor increased 3.09 points to 56.69. Year to date, the carrier flew 206,226 passengers, a decline of 1.84 percent, while RPMs rose slightly by 1.37 percent to 26.5 million. ASMs were up 3.94 percent to 51.2 million. Load factor to date dropped 1.32 points, to 51.78 percent.

Express Jet (XJT) (Continental Express)

Traffic and capacity rose in July compared to July 2005. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) jumped 13.3 percent to 976 million, while available seat miles (ASMs) increased 10.6 percent to 1.2 billion. Load factor was up 1.9 points, to 80.6 percent. The company flew 83,602 block hours, up 10.1 percent and departures increased 9.4 percent to 44,223. Controllable completion factor was 99.8 percent compared to 99.9 percent in 2005, which does not include cancellations due to weather and air traffic control. The company had a total completion factor of 97.2 percent, an improvement over the 96.5 percent in the year-ago period. Year to date, RPMs reached six billion, up 19 percent from the year-ago period. ASMs rose 11.6 percent to 7.6 billion. Load factor increased 4.9 points, to 78.7 percent. Block hours numbered 530 thousand, up 11.7 percent, and departures increased 9.8 percent to 283,848.

Great Lakes (GLUX) (United, Frontier)

Scheduled service generated 12.1 million RPMs for Great Lakes Aviation, a 20.2 percent increase from July 2005. However, ASMs were flat at 25 million. Load factor jumped 8.2 points to 48.61 percent, while passengers carried increased 22.1 percent to 46,943. Revenue per available seat mile (RASM) increased 17.9 percent, from 26.77 cents to 31.55 cents. Year to date, RPMs rose 13.1 percent to 75.2 million, while ASMs increased 3.9 percent to 166.9 million. Load factor rose 3.7 points to 45.06 percent on enplanements of 287,510, a jump of 15.3 percent. RASM for the period increased 17.5 percent, to 29.35 cents.

Horizon (HRZ) (Alaska)

Horizon posted a 4.8 percent gain in RPMs to 249 million during the month, while capacity was up slightly at 2.9 percent to 318.8 million. Load factor rose 1.4 points to 78.1 percent, as it carried 627,300 passengers compared to the 610,200 in the year-ago period. For the seven months, Horizon's RPMs were up 11.6 percent to 1.559 billion. Capacity for the period increased 8.0 percent to 2.097 billion ASMs. Load factor rose from 72 percent to 74.3 percent, when it carried 3,966,400 passengers, compared to 3,723,100 year-to-date 2005.

Mesa (MESA) (America West Express, Delta Connection, US Airways Express, United Express)

For the first time, Mesa reported full-month traffic for its fledgling airline go!. The two-month-old Hawaiian carrier logged 13.3 million ASMs and 9.8 million RPMs, producing a load factor of 73.9 percent with 69,680 passengers. The results, which benefited from introductory fares and, in September, will continue to benefit from the recent $29 fare sale, contributed to Mesa Air Group's 5.9 percent increase in RPMs to 628.6 million. However, ASMs were generally flat at 794.9 million, up only 0.5 percent. Enplanements rose 16 percent to 1,412,453, while load factor increased 4.1 points to 79.1 percent. Year to date, the carrier logged a 9.6 percent increase in RPMs to 4.053 billion, and a 2.6 percent increase in ASMs to 5.261 billion. Enplanements jumped 12.8 percent to 8,769,209, as load factor rose 4.9 points to 76.8 points.

Mesaba (Northwest Airlink)

Mesaba (MAIR) traffic was down across the board in July when it flew 147 million ASMs, down 42.1 percent from the year-ago period. RPMs experienced a similar drop, down 43.9 percent to 100.5 million, as load factor declined 2.2 points to 68.3 percent and enplanements decreased 35.4 percent to 346,342. Calendar year to date, the airline flew 31.8 percent fewer ASMs at 1.2 billion. RPMs declined 28.4 percent to 837.5 million and enplanements dropped 23.9 percent to 2,565,377. Load factor rose 3.3 points to 69.1 percent. It posted a 98.1 percent completion factor, up 0.1 points, while arrivals within 14 minutes were up 2.6 points to 82.1 percent.

Midwest Air Group

Midwest Airlines (MEH) posted a 19 percent increase in RPMs to 364.1 million, as ASMs, jumped 15.3 percent to 432.6 million. Load factor rose 2.6 points to 84.5 percent as it carried 14.8 percent more passengers at 342,089. RASM uped 13.2 percent to 12.12 cents. Fuel costs increased 27.1 percent to $2.30 per gallon. Year to date, the airline carried 2,139,159 passengers, up 24.6 percent. RPMs rose 26.6 percent to 2.271 billion. ASMs totaled 2.944 billion, an increase of 19.8 percent. Load factor increased 4.2 points to 78.3 percent. RASM increased 14.2 percent to 11.34 cents.

Midwest Connect reported more modest increases as passenger numbers rose 0.3 percent to 76,527 in July. RPMs, increased 10.9 percent to 24.4 million and ASMs rose 2.2 percent to 32.1 million. Load factor increased 5.9 points 76 percent. RASM jumped 11.8 percent to 29.40 cents. Year to date, Connect posted a 2.9 percent gain in passengers at 487,556 while RPMs, increased 10.2 percent to 152.2 million. ASMs increased one percent to 223.5 million and load factor increased 5.8 points to 68.2 percent. RASM jumped 22.3 percent to 28.49 cents.

Pinnacle (PNCL) Northwest Airlink

While ASMs, RPMs, block hours and cycles declined, enplanements and load factor rose for the Memphis-based carrier. During July, Pinnacle carried 810,840 passengers, up 5.4 percent over the year-ago period. It flew 484.2 million ASMS, down 8.7 percent and 381.3 million RPMs, a drop of 8.1 percent. Load factor was up 0.5 points to 78.7 percent. Block hours were down 10.3 percent to 35,503, while cycles declined 2.4 percent to 21,747, as its fleet dropped from 139 regional jets to 124. Its average stage length also dropped from 522 statue miles to 468. Year to date, Pinnacle flew 5,165,502 passengers, up 13.5 percent, as load factor rose 6.8 points to 77.1 percent. ASMs declined 3.2 percent to 3.197 billion, as RPMs jumped 6.2 percent to 2.464 billion. Cycles rose 1.9 percent to 146,065, while block hours declined 3.4 percent to 241,571.

Republic (RJET) (Republic Airlines, Chautauqua, Shuttle America) (AmericanConnection, Delta connection, United Express & US Airways Express)

Traffic experienced dramatic increases during July, including a 57 percent jump in RPMs to 649 million. ASMs increased 45.6 percent to 830.1 million as load factor rose 5.7 points to 78.1 percent. The carriers enplaned 1,228,250, a 44.1 percent increase. Block hours rose 20.1 percent to 49,834. Year to date, the airlines logged a 50.1 percent increase in RPMs to 3.758 billion, while ASMs jumped 41 percent to 5.052 billion. Load factor increased 4.5 points to 74.4 percent on 7,111,627 enplanements, up 35.8 percent. Block hours for the period reached 308,086, up 15.8 percent.

SkyWest/Atlantic Southeast (Delta Connection, United Express)

SkyWest (SKYW) posted a 107.5 percent increase in RPMs to 1.47 billion. ASMs jumped 99.4 percent to 1.79 billion, as it continued to record the impact of its ASA acquisition. The combined airlines posted an 82.3 percent load factor, up 3.2 points. Enplanements reached 2,901,690, a jump of 95.8 percent. It flew 86.2 percent more block hours at 114,568 and had 66.5 percent more departures at 74,619. Year to date, the combined airlines flew 18,437,047 passengers, up 97.1 percent. RPMs rose 115.7 percent to 9.17 billion, while ASMs increased 104.1 percent to 11.5 billion. Load factor rose 4.3 points to 79.4 percent. Block hours increased 83.5 percent to 741,624, while departures jumped 62.9 percent to 491,046.

US Airways (LCC) (PSA, Piedmont, US Airways Mid-Atlantic Division)

Traffic was down across the board for the three US Airways Express carriers during July, when they flew 762,740 passengers, a drop of 16.6 percent. The statistics, which include Caribbean numbers, show a 35.7 percent decline in RPMs to 222.9 million, while ASMs dropped 38.1 percent to 307 million. Load factor increased 2.7 points to 72.6 points. Year to date the carriers flew 5,344,434 passengers, a drop of 3.9 percent. Load factor increased 5.4 points to 69.5 percent. ASMs, dropped 24.5 percent to 2.431 billion, while RPMs declined 18.2 percent to 1.688 billion. (