Rankings / US Airways
Last reported 2015US Airways
In 2015, its last year in the data, US Airways flew 57.1 passenger-miles per gallon of jet fuel. That's 4% better than the all-airline figure that year. Since 2000 its figure has risen 55%.
About US Airways
US Airways flew from Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix. The airline in this data was formed in 2005 when America West bought the bankrupt US Airways and took its name. It merged into American at the end of 2013, and American's page includes its flying from 2015 on.
- 57.1passenger-miles per gallon, 2015
- 0.171 kgCO2 per passenger-mile
- 83%of seats filled
- 156seats per flight on average
The story in the figures
US Airways' passenger-miles per gallon rose 55% between 2000 and 2015, from 36.9 to 57.1. Most of that came from the aircraft: seat-miles per gallon rose 31%, while planes ran fuller, with 70% of seat-miles filled in 2000 against 83% in 2015.
The shape of the flying changed as well: the average flight went from 126 seats to 156, and the average passenger flew 757 miles per segment in 2000 and 1,132 in 2015. In general, larger aircraft spread fuel over more passengers, and longer flights spend a smaller share of their fuel on takeoff and climb.
2015 is its best year on record, with no earlier year reaching 57.1 passenger-miles per gallon.
Against the all-airline figure for 2015 (54.8), US Airways was 4.1% better. On a 1,000 mile trip that works out to 171 kg of CO2 for one passenger, from burning jet fuel only.
What one seat costs the climate
CO2 for one passenger on US Airways, from burning jet fuel only.
- 85 kgover 500 miles
- 171 kgover 1,000 miles
- 342 kgover 2,000 miles
US Airways sells seats on flights operated by regional partners. In 2015 about 0.0% of its seat-miles were flown by regionals. How much of each regional's flying belongs to US Airways is an estimate based on the hubs the regional serves. The figure for 2015 sits between 53.7 and 57.1 passenger-miles per gallon depending on how multi-airline regionals are split. See the methodology.
US Airways merged with American, and BTS began combining their filings in July 2015. America West was reporting combined with US Airways from October 2007. Later years are under American Airlines.
Year-by-year figures
| Year | Passenger-miles per gallon | kg CO2 per passenger-mile | Seat-miles per gallon | Load factor | Passengers (millions) | Fuel (million gallons) | CO2 (thousand tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 57.1 | 0.171 | 68.7 | 83.1% | 28.6 | 567 | 5,529 |
| 2014 | 54.0 | 0.181 | 65.2 | 82.8% | 74.4 | 1,341 | 13,076 |
| 2013 | 54.3 | 0.180 | 64.4 | 84.3% | 76.7 | 1,350 | 13,160 |
| 2012 | 53.1 | 0.184 | 63.6 | 83.4% | 73.6 | 1,307 | 12,741 |
| 2011 | 51.9 | 0.188 | 62.6 | 82.8% | 73.8 | 1,316 | 12,832 |
| 2010 | 51.5 | 0.190 | 63.1 | 81.5% | 74.3 | 1,303 | 12,703 |
| 2009 | 49.1 | 0.199 | 61.0 | 80.5% | 79.0 | 1,405 | 13,696 |
| 2008 | 49.1 | 0.198 | 61.2 | 80.3% | 81.2 | 1,443 | 14,066 |
| 2007 | 45.7 | 0.214 | 58.0 | 78.7% | 65.0 | 1,135 | 11,070 |
| 2006 | 42.6 | 0.229 | 55.6 | 76.8% | 56.9 | 1,041 | 10,149 |
| 2005 | 41.8 | 0.234 | 56.7 | 73.6% | 57.8 | 1,078 | 10,507 |
| 2004 | 42.5 | 0.230 | 57.7 | 73.7% | 55.3 | 1,039 | 10,130 |
| 2003 | 40.5 | 0.241 | 56.5 | 71.7% | 52.5 | 1,005 | 9,794 |
| 2002 | 40.4 | 0.241 | 57.3 | 70.6% | 51.4 | 1,012 | 9,868 |
| 2001 | 37.8 | 0.258 | 55.0 | 68.7% | 58.2 | 1,223 | 11,929 |
| 2000 | 36.9 | 0.264 | 52.6 | 70.1% | 62.2 | 1,276 | 12,440 |
Where the leaders stand
Nearby airline results
These airlines sit nearby by passenger-miles per gallon in their last data year. Historical airlines have different end years, shown here, so this isn't a same-year ranking.
Airline references
Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Schedule P-12(a) fuel, T-100 traffic and regional Schedule T-2 filings; US EPA jet-fuel CO2 factor. See the methodology.