US. At the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Forecast Conference in Washington DC recently, officials predicted US traffic levels will slowly return to pre-September 11 2001 levels, by 2005 to 2006.
Not long ago, US aviation was forecasting 1 billion passengers by the turn of the decade. But now the FAA sees the industry approaching that level in 2014 (with 996 million), and predicts the fastest growth will come in regional, rather than intercontinental, traffic.
In 2003, FAA predicts levels of US passenger departures to reach 646.9 million, up +3.0% on the 628 million passengers recorded in 2002. This figure is forecast to rise to 737.6 million in 2006.
The “most encouraging news,” said FAA, is in the regional and commuter passenger market, with annual growth projections at +5.6%, compared to a +3.5% annual increase for the major air carriers.
FAA administrator Marion Blakey said that despite 2002 traffic staying below 1997 levels, there were signs of strength in the market. At the same time, the FAA pointed to the fact that there are currently some 1,800 passenger aircraft parked worldwide, a number equivalent to one-third of the whole US fleet.
