Airline Passenger Miles Up 2.3% in May 2013

According to the Bureau of Transportation, system revenue passenger miles were 73.6 billion in May 2013. This was an increase of 2.3% compared to May 2012. This was the fifth month-over-month increase in the last seven months. Also, it was the fastest rate of month-over-month increase since February 2012. The annual rate of change has been virtually flat the last four months. Although, it looks likely that it will accelerate modestly in the near future. Real disposable income, a good leading indicator for passenger miles, has seen decelerating growth since December 2012. Therefore, longer term it is likely that airline passenger miles will see decelerating growth or contraction. This would be positive news for aerospace industrial production.