Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) today reported preliminary consolidated
passenger traffic results for December 2003. Systemwide, the company
generated 277.4 million revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 5.7 percent
increase over the same month last year, while available seat miles (ASMs)
rose to 406.7 million, a 7.4 percent increase. Load factor was 68.2
percent versus 69.3 percent in December 2002. For the month, 688,826
passengers were carried, a 1.2 percent decrease over the same month last
year.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2003, compared to the same period
in 2002, RPMs grew to 3.3 billion, an increase of 17.4 percent, while ASMs
were 4.6 billion, a 6.8 percent increase. The company carried 8,415,824
passengers during the twelve months ended December 31, 2003, compared to
7,160,480 in 2002, an increase of 17.5 percent on a year-over-year basis.

ACA currently operates as United Express and Delta Connection in the
Eastern and Midwestern United States as well as Canada. On July 28, 2003,
ACA announced plans to establish a new, independent low-fare airline to be
based at Washington Dulles International Airport—to be called
Independence Air. The company has a fleet of 145 aircraft—including a
total of 120 regional jets—and offers over 840 daily departures,
serving 84 destinations. ACA employs approximately 4,600 aviation
professionals.
The common stock of parent company Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings, Inc.
is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACAI. For more
information about ACA, visit our website at http://www.atlanticcoast.com/.
For more information about Independence Air, visit our “preview” site at
http://www.flyi.com/.

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