11% Annual Air Transaction Drop Still Makes March 2009's Strongest Month

March air transactions processed by agencies fell nearly 11 percent, year over year, a milder decline than those in the first two months of 2009, according to ARC monthly processing data released late yesterday.

Domestic and international transactions in March 2009—a month that, unlike March 2008, did not include the Easter holiday— fell 12 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, year over year.

In February, total transactions fell nearly 18 percent, including a 20 percent domestic drop and a 12.3 percent international fall. January transaction numbers were slightly worse than February. Through the first quarter of the year, total transactions fell 15.8 percent compared with the same period in 2008.

The transaction drop stabilization illustrates sentiments shared by several industry executives this week at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives Global Education Conference in Washington, D.C.

BCD Travel's transactions decreased 13 percent in 2008 compared with the year prior, but with a revenue increase of 3 percent, according to BCD Travel president of the Americas Danny Hood.

"We didn't get hit as hard last year as we did the first quarter of this year," Hood said at the ACTE conference. "We're hanging on. The good news is that in March, we've pretty much seen a flat line. When you really look at it, transactions have gone down as far as they're going to go, and we've had a little uptick over the past month. We're about 6 percent of the U.S. business travel market."

According to Bill Tech, president and CEO of super-regional travel management company Travel and Transport, transactions were down 22.5 percent, 18 percent and about 15 percent through the respective first three months of the year.