ExpressJet's September traffic rose 19 percent

ExpressJet traffic jumped 19 percent in September, average occupancy increased

• On 5:30 pm EDT, Monday October 12, 2009

HOUSTON (AP) -- ExpressJet Holdings Inc. said Monday that its traffic rose 19 percent from a year ago, when the carrier was reeling from the loss of flying for Delta and shutting down its own branded airline.

ExpressJet said paying passengers flew 617 million miles, up from 517 million miles a year ago.

Capacity rose 11 percent, to 808 million available seat miles. With traffic rising faster than the carrier rebuilt capacity, the average occupancy of its planes, or load factor, rose to 76.3 percent from 70.8 percent in September 2008.

For the first nine months of the year, traffic and capacity were both down 3 percent from the same period of 2008.

ExpressJet shares rose 9 cents, or 2.9 percent, to close at $3.17.