Sept. Traffic Declines on Lower Capacity

Major U.S. airlines’ September passenger traffic fell less than 1% as carriers including UAL Corp.’s United Airlines reduced capacity. Low-fare competitors such as Southwest Airlines Co. reported gains.

The 10 biggest U.S. carriers reduced capacity 4.8% in September because of lower air-travel demand. Discounters, which have expanded as larger competitors cut back, continued to gain passengers, with traffic rising 11% at Dallas-based Southwest and 26% at Indianapolis-based ATA Holdings Corp.

From Bloomberg News