Big U.S. airlines post disappointing cargo results for 2005

Big U.S. airlines post disappointing cargo results for 2005    Three major U.S. airlines all transported less cargo in December, contributing to disappointing full year cargo movements.
   Chicago-based United Airlines reported 179,512 system cargo ton miles in December, a 1.5 percent drop year-on-year. In December, freight increased 1.3 percent to 134,772 cargo ton miles, while mail dropped 8.3 percent to 44,740 cargo ton miles.
   For the full year, United reported 2.01 million system cargo ton miles, up 1.5 percent compared to 1.99 million system cargo ton miles in 2004.
   Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines carried 185,946 system cargo ton miles in December, a 3.1 percent decrease over the same month in 2004.
   For 2005, American’s system cargo ton miles were down 0.3 percent over 2004 at 2.2 million.
   Continental Airlines reported a 2.2 percent decline in cargo revenue ton-miles for December to 91,771 cargo revenue ton-miles from 93,796 in December 2004.
   For the full year, Continental posted 1.02 million cargo revenue ton-miles, down 0.8 percent over 2004.