When I fly (by necessity only such as my niece's wedding this past weekend), I have noticed that the planes are not as full on some traditionally popular routes. Furthermore the planes that are being used are smaller in size than in the past and even they are not running full capacity. The amount of routes have been cut back as well.

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May traffic figures from three US major airlines have been disappointing although, for some, increased load factors have helped offset the gloom.

Of the three, United Airlines today reported the sharpest decline with revenue passenger mile falling by 13.9 per cent compared with the same month last year.

The Chicago-based carrier has cut capacity by 17.2 per cent over the past twelve months and that was reflected in a rise in its monthly load factor - the average number of passengers carried on its planes -which went up from 70.4 per cent to 73.2 per cent.

The nations' biggest carrier, American Airlines, said its passenger numbers were down by 11.1 per cent from a year earlier while Continental saw a decrease of 8.3 per cent.

http://news.airwise.com/stories/2002/06/1023213551.html