--- In BATN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "12/13 SF Examiner" <batn@xxxx> wrote: Published Monday, December 13, 2004, in the San Francisco Examiner Domestic flights rising All U.S. airlines report increases in passengers. By Sabrina Crawford Domestic flight travel levels are soaring this year, according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "We're getting back to pre-9/11 levels of travel and actually even higher levels," said independent aviation expert Mike Boyd. "We're getting back to normal, and so airline traffic is increasing all across the country." Airlines across the nation carried a whopping 472.3 million passengers all across America in the first nine months of 2004, the report said. That reflects a 7.5 percent increase in domestic passengers and an increase of 3.7 percent in domestic flights when compared with the same period the previous year, the report said. That means more flights, and fuller flights overall. That's good news for San Francisco International Airport, which has already carried more than 9 million domestic passengers on locally departing flights this year. That compares to just over 8 million during the same period -- January through September -- of last year. Although SFO, a local hub with 70 domestic gates, ranks 13th on the national list, in terms of overall departures percentage-wise it actually beat the national average, rising a total of 11.1 percent. "We've seen an increase all year," said SFO spokesman Mike McCarron. "More low-cost carriers, better fares." The popularity of low-cost carriers is reflected in the overall airline rankings. Southwest Airlines, which flies locally out of Oakland and San Jose, ranked first in the report with just under 61 million flights so far this year, pushing last year's top-ranking airline, Delta Airlines, into second place. In the past year, low-cost carriers have increasingly become a presence at SFO, including Westjet to Canada, AirTran Airways and United's low-cost carrier, Ted. And if the popularity of low-cost carriers such as JetBlue Airways continue and Virgin American moves forward with plans to begin service from SFO next year, those domestic flight figures could climb even higher. --- End forwarded message ---