U.S. Airlines Are Having Sellout Flights

As a token of good winds for the travel industry, all major U.S. airlines are carrying more passengers now than in any other month of the year, averaging a 75 percent plane seat occupancy.

The biggest jump of all went to Northwest, up 4.6 percent from June 2003 and peaking an 86.4 percent seat occupancy in all booked flights last month.

Most airlines were hit hard by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States whose fallout made the number of passengers dwindle worldwide and nearly 100,000 employees lose their jobs.

Between January and May this year, the volume of passengers flown by U.S. airlines has inched back up to the levels scored in 2000, the industry´s last good year. This time around, though, carriers have slashed roughly five percent of available seats in an effort to cut costs.