The fourth quarter is the freight peak and the first quarter the trough in every decade shown. The series counts freight and mail on all-cargo flights only.
Conditions and method
Each cell is the mean quarterly ton-miles of freight and mail on all-cargo flights (aircraft with no seats), in millions, over the complete quarters of its decade; a quarter is complete when all three of its months are filed. Left out: 2025 Q4 (1 of 3 months filed). Cells that average fewer quarters than the rest of their decade: 2020s Q4 (5 of 6).
Data run through 2025 Q3.