Domestic airlines, foreign carriers in U.S. fly most passengers ever in '14

U.S. airlines and foreign airlines with U.S. routes served an all-time-high 848.1 million passengers in 2014,  the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said on Thursday.

The number was a 2.5 percent increase from 2013 and about 1.2 percent higher than the previous record high of 838.4 million passengers in 2007.

The biggest rise was the number of passengers on domestic flights, which increased 2.6 percent to reach 662.3 million passengers. U.S. and foreign airline flights to and from the country reported a 2.3 percent growth in passengers, reaching 185.8 million. However, overall foreign airline flights reported a 2.3 percent drop in the number of passengers compared with 2013. International flights increased 2.4 percent over 2013.

Despite the fall in passengers on international flights, the first 10 months of 2014 saw a 3.6 percent increase in those types of flights. However, the number fell 3.8 percent in November and December.

Delta Air Lines reported carrying about 129 million passengers in 2014, which was more than any other U.S. airline for the fifth year in a row. United Airlines came in first in carrying the most passengers (about 25,700) on international flights for the third straight year. The top foreign airline was British Airways.