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United, American Airline's cargo growth in October outflanks competitors

UNITED Airlines and American Airlines both recorded double-digit increases in cargo demand in October. However, Delta Air Line's traffic volume continued to decline and its performance diverged compared with that of its larger competitors.

United, the country's largest cargo carrier, saw its demand increase 18.1 per cent year on year in October to 275 million cargo tonne miles (CTM), marking the airline's largest monthly increase since February 2015 and the airline's seventh in a row. Traffic for the first ten months of the year was up 5.6 per cent at 2.3 billion CTM, reported London's Air Cargo News.

American delivered a similar performance with demand up 14.4 per cent year on year in October to 238 million CTM. This was the airline's seventh consecutive monthly increase and the largest percentage improvement since January 2014. For the first ten months, demand was up 3.5 per cent at 2 billion CTM.

While there were improvements at United and American, Delta recorded a 5.9 per cent decline in traffic in October to 181 million CTM. This is the airline's 20th year-on-year monthly decrease in a row.

The LATAM Group also saw demand fall due to flagging South American economies, although the rate of decline slowed compared with previous months.

The airline group's demand in October decreased by 1.7 per cent year on year to 328 million cargo tonne kilometres, but the decline was its lowest since October 2014.