From a market perspective, commercial air traffic continued to recover, despite some regional impacts from the COVID variants, with global ASMs or available seat miles, estimated to have grown about 30% sequentially in Q3.
And here in the U.S., passenger traffic through TSA checkpoints averaged about 1.9 million travelers per day in Q3.
That's up from about 1.6 million per day in Q2.
Based on our strong performance year-to-date, we're again increasing and tightening our adjusted earnings per share outlook for the year to $4.10 to $4.20 a share.
That's up from our prior outlook of $3.85 to $4.
On the capital allocation front, we repurchased about $1 billion of RTX shares during the quarter, bringing our total for the year to $2 billion, which was our commitment that we talked about back in Q2.
Utilizing our core operating system tools, the team in Columbus reduced the lead time of forgings by up to 35 days and reduced both cost and inventory.
Sales of $16.2 billion were up 10% organically versus prior year on an adjusted basis.
That was partially offset by some supply chain pressures and lower 787 OE volume.
Adjusted earnings per share of $1.26 was ahead of our expectations, primarily driven by Collins, Pratt and some corporate items.
On a GAAP basis, earnings per share from continuing operations was $0.93 per share and included $0.33 of acquisition accounting adjustments and net significant and/or nonrecurring items.
It's worth noting that both GAAP and adjusted earnings per share benefited from about $0.16 of lower tax expense related to previously disclosed actions we took to optimize the company's legal entity and operating structure in the quarter as well as pension-related benefit that was worth about $0.05.
Free cash flow of $1.5 billion was in line with our expectations, keeping us on track for the full year.
During the quarter, we achieved about $165 million of incremental merger gross cost synergies.
And given our strong performance, we are again increasing our 2021 target and now expect to achieve over $700 million of cost synergies this year.
This will bring us to nearly $1 billion in cumulative gross cost synergies since the merger, and we're well on our way to meeting our $1.5 billion commitment.
Sales were $4.6 billion in the quarter, up 7% on an adjusted basis and up 9% on an organic basis, driven primarily by the continued recovery in the commercial aerospace end markets.
By channel, commercial aftermarket sales were up 38%, driven by a 44% increase in parts and repair, a 43% increase in provisioning and a 22% increase in modifications and upgrades.
Sequentially, commercial aftermarket sales were up 4%, roughly in line with our expectations.
Commercial OE sales were down 3%, with strength in narrow-body more than offset by lower wide-body deliveries, primarily 787.
And military sales were down 5% on an adjusted basis and down 1% organically on a tough compare.
Recall, Collins' military sales were up 8% in the same period last year.
Adjusted operating profit of $480 million was up $407 million from the prior year.
Looking ahead, due to expected supply chain pressures and 787 OE delivery headwinds, we now expect Collins full year sales to be down mid-single digit.
However, given the continued recovery in the commercial aftermarket and the benefit of cost-containment measures, we are increasing Collins full year operating profit outlook to a new range of up $250 million to $300 million versus 2020.
Sales of $4.7 billion were up 25% on an adjusted basis and up 35% on an organic basis, primarily driven by the continued recovery of the commercial aerospace industry.
Commercial aftermarket sales were up 56% in the quarter, with legacy large commercial engine shop visits up 49% and Pratt Canada shop visits up 18%.
Sequentially, commercial aftermarket sales were up 17%.
Commercial OE sales were up 22%, driven by higher GTF deliveries within Pratt's large commercial engine business.
The military business sales were up 2% on another tough compare.
Recall, Pratt military sales were up 11% in the same period last year.
Growth in the quarter was driven by a continued ramp in F-135 sustainment, which was particularly offset -- input on production and classified development programs.
Adjusted operating profit of $189 million was better than expected and was up $232 million from the prior year.
In addition, we are increasing Pratt's full year operating profit outlook to a new range of flat to up $50 million versus 2020.
RIS sales of $3.7 billion were in line with prior year results on an adjusted basis and down 1% on an organic basis, driven primarily by the timing of material input from suppliers.
Adjusted operating profit in the quarter of $391 million was in line with expectations and was up $41 million year-over-year on an adjusted basis, driven primarily by higher program efficiencies.
RIS had $2.9 billion of bookings in the quarter, resulting in a book-to-bill of 0.84, as expected, and a backlog of $18.7 billion.
Significant bookings included approximately $1 billion on classified programs.
It's worth noting that we expect RIS full year book-to-bill to be greater than 1.
However, as a result of improved productivity, we continue to expect RIS' operational -- operating profit to grow $150 million to $175 million versus adjusted pro forma 2020.
RMD sales were $3.9 billion, up 7% on an adjusted basis and up 5% on an organic basis, driven by liquidations of precontract costs on an AMRAAM award received in the quarter and the expected ramp in our NASAMS franchise.
Adjusted operating profit of $490 million was in line with our expectations and was up $59 million versus the prior year, primarily on higher sales volume.
RMD's bookings in the quarter were approximately $3.9 billion, resulting in a book-to-bill of 1.02 and a backlog of $29.6 billion.
Significant bookings in the quarter included AMRAAM Lot 35 for $570 million, a Patriot GEM-T order for $432 million as well as several other notable awards.
We also expect RMD's full year book-to-bill to be greater than 1.
We remain confident in our full year outlook for RMD, with sales growing low to mid-single digit and operating profit growing $50 million to $75 million versus adjusted pro forma 2020.
And on the OE side, 787 build rates have come down more than we had expected, resulting in a significant impact to our top line outlook for the year.
So with that backdrop, we're adjusting our sales outlook and now see full year sales of about $65 billion, slightly higher than the low end of our prior outlook.
However, given the strong performance on cost control, synergy capture and program execution, we are raising and tightening our adjusted earnings per share range to $4.10 to $4.20 per share or up about $0.22 from the midpoint of our prior outlook.
About $0.07 of the increase comes from the segments, Collins and Pratt, and the remainder comes from improvements in corporate items.
And on the cash side, we are also raising the low end of our free cash flow outlook and now see free cash flow of approximately $5 billion for the full year.
On the positive side, obviously, we expect the commercial aerospace recovery to continue, and we feel good about our ability to grow our defense franchises with our robust $65 billion backlog and the bipartisan support for the fiscal '22 -- fiscal year '22 budget, and of course, the international demand for our products and technologies continues to be strong.
We anticipate the global supply chain pressure will continue and that lower 787 build rates will carry into next year.
And finally, the strength of our balance sheet, along with the cash-generating capabilities of our business, will continue to provide us with financial flexibility to support investments in our business while still returning capital to shareowners, including our commitment to return at least $20 billion to shareowners in the first four years following the merger.

Summary:
Based on our strong performance year-to-date, we're again increasing and tightening our adjusted earnings per share outlook for the year to $4.10 to $4.20 a share.
Sales of $16.2 billion were up 10% organically versus prior year on an adjusted basis.
Adjusted earnings per share of $1.26 was ahead of our expectations, primarily driven by Collins, Pratt and some corporate items.
On a GAAP basis, earnings per share from continuing operations was $0.93 per share and included $0.33 of acquisition accounting adjustments and net significant and/or nonrecurring items.
However, given the strong performance on cost control, synergy capture and program execution, we are raising and tightening our adjusted earnings per share range to $4.10 to $4.20 per share or up about $0.22 from the midpoint of our prior outlook.