Airline demand up nearly 5% in September

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Americans are flying again, despite increased security measures at the airports.

In September, U.S. airlines carried 57.3 million domestic and international passengers, a 4.9% increase over the same month in 2009, according to new U.S. Department of Transportation statistics.

The number of airline passengers flying in September is also 5.7% higher than the total for September 2008 but 3.2% lower than the prerecession levels of September 2007, according to the DOT statistics.

The latest numbers also show that U.S. airlines are flying planes at 81% of capacity, the highest level for any September since World War II, according to the federal agency.

The Air Transport Assn. of America, the industry trade group, also predicted that airlines in the U.S. would carry 43.6 million passengers during the upcoming holiday season, a 3% increase over the same period last year.

The increase in travel comes despite the growing use by the Transportation Security Administration of full-body scanners that use low-levels of radiation to create what looks like a nude image of the scanned passenger to spot items hidden under clothing.

The TSA operates 430 scanners at 70 airports nationwide.

-- Hugo Martin