The Problem

The Table 1 below lists the estimated numbers in millions of airline passengers at some of the fastest growing airports in 1992 and 2005.   (Source: Federal Aviation Administration.)

Raleigh-Durham International had 4.9 million passengers in 1992.   Assuming Raleigh-Durham International follows the same trend in growth as the other airports reported in Table 1 below, estimate the number of passengers it may have in 2005.  Compare this result with the Federal Aviation Administration estimation of 10.3 million passengers.

   TABLE 1        Airline Passengers (in millions)
AIRPORT
 1992 2005
Harrisburg International 0.7 1.4
Dayton International 1.1 2.4
Austin Robert Mueller 2.2 4.7
Milwaukee General Mitchell 2.2 4.4
Sacramento Metropolitan 2.6 5.0
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood 4.1 8.1
Washington Dulles 5.3 10.9
Greater Cinninnati 5.8 12.3

 

Since the equation of the regression line is y = 2.081x - 0.093, to find the approximate number of passengers at Raleigh-Durham International, substitute the 1992 value of 4.9  for x.

y = 2.081 ( 4.9) - .0931 10.1 million passengers are predicted in 2005.

Note that 10.1 million is very close to the Federal Aviation Administration estimation of 10.3 million passengers.

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