Commercial aviation helps drive more than 10M American jobs and 5 cents of every dollar of U.S. GDP
Commercial aviation drives more than $1 trillion per year in economic activity
U.S. airlines move 50,000 tons of cargo per day
In 2011, the average value of a kilogram of U.S. merchandise exported by air was 117 times the value exported by sea
For every 100 airline jobs, some 360 are supported outside of the airline industry
Federal taxes constitute $61 – or 20% – of the price of a typical $300 domestic round-trip ticket
From 2000-2010, U.S. airlines carried 15% more traffic while using 2.1 billion fewer gallons of fuel
Domestically, airlines drive 5% of economic activity but account for 2% of man-made GHG emissions
From 2000-2010, airlines reduced GHG emissions by 10% while transporting 15% more passengers and cargo
From 1975-2010, the number of U.S. residents exposed to significant noise levels fell 95%
Commercial air travel is the safest form of intercity transportation in the United States
In the most recent decade, scheduled air service on U.S. airlines was seven times safer than in the 1970s
From 2000-2010, U.S. airlines improved the on-time arrival rate from 72.6% to 79.8%
From 2000-2010, U.S. airlines halved the flight cancellation rate from 3.30% to 1.76%
Airfares are a bargain: From 2000-2010, U.S. CPI rose 27% while average domestic fare (excl. taxes) rose just 1%
Adjusted for inflation, the average round-trip domestic fare in 2010 fell 21% (from $398 to $316) compared to 2000
2007 domestic flight delays cost the United States approximately $31 billion
In 2011, the value of U.S. merchandise exported by air reached an all-time high of $424B
In 2011, U.S. exports of air-travel services reached an all-time high of $36.7B, driving the largest trade surplus in this category since 1992
In 2011, U.S. passenger and cargo airlines spent $50.5B on fuel, up $11.7B ($32M/day) from 2010
In 2011, U.S. airlines posted the lowest annual rate of mishandled baggage ever recorded
In 2011, U.S. airlines posted the lowest annual rate of involuntary denied boardings ever recorded
In 4Q 2011, U.S. airlines posted the second-lowest quarterly on-time arrival rate ever recorded
FAA projects U.S. air travel demand to top 1 billion passengers in 2024
In 2011, US airlines flew 80 million passengers in scheduled international service- a record high
In 2011, US airlines flew at 241.2 billion revenue passenger miles in scheduled international service- a record high
In 2011, US airlines operated 299.9 billion available seat miles in scheduled international service- a record high

A4A Quarterly Cost Index: U.S. Passenger Airlines

A4A produces the Airline Cost Index to monitor trends in the cost of inputs (e.g., labor, fuel, food, aircraft ownership, airport landing fees, insurance, utilities, interest) to the provision of air service over time. The various indices also facilitate comparisons among the components themselves and between airline costs and broader economic indicators. Long-term cost trends are important determinants of airfares. While the Airline Cost Index includes cost per available seat mile (CASM), the traditional measure of airline unit operating costs, the index values themselves are the superior bellwethers of the price of inputs to production. CASM can mask the true cost of an input because it also reflects changes in productivity over time.

The vast majority of the Cost Index is derived from quarterly financial and operational information collected by DOT (principally Form 41 reports), and historical data may be restated as warranted. Neither the Cost Index nor its components are seasonally adjusted because 1) users may find seasonal fluctuations of great interest and 2) leaving the data unfettered allows users to impose adjustments of their own choosing. Consequently, quarter-to-quarter movements in certain indices may be driven in part by the seasonality of the variables used to compute them.

A4A publishes the Airline Cost Index and restates prior quarters as data becomes available from DOT. It reflects all U.S. passenger airlines filing complete reports for the corresponding quarter. In addition to the summary below, you can purchase and download the latest detailed Cost Index Tables (Excel) and Charts. For a sample table, please click here.

[Note: We have recently retooled the dataset going back to 1977. To be included in the cost index, carriers must have met the following criteria on an annual basis: 1) must report both passenger revenue and RPMs and 2) passenger revenue must be greater than or equal to 25% of total operating revenue. Data prior to 1977 excludes airlines with annual revenues less than $100 million. Results for a given quarter are typically available within 120 days of its completion. A detailed methodology can be obtained here.]

A4A Cost Index for U.S. Passenger Airlines: 3Q 2011	Index (2000=100)	% of Operating Expenses
FUEL per gallon	368.4	30.7
LABOR per full-time equivalent employee	139.3	22.1
AIRCRAFT RENTS & OWNERSHIP per operating seat	89.6	5.8
NON-AIRCRAFT RENTS & OWNERSHIP per enplanement	104.8	3.9
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES per available seat mile	117.1	7.3
FOOD & BEVERAGE per revenue passenger mile	61.9	1.5
LANDING FEES per capacity ton landed	170.2	2.0
MAINTENANCE MATERIAL per aircraft block hour	91.0	1.7
AIRCRAFT INSURANCE as % of hull net book value	170.3	0.1
NON-AIRCRAFT INSURANCE per revenue passenger mile	156.8	0.3
PASSENGER COMMISSIONS as % of passenger revenue	26.8	1.1
COMMUNICATION per enplanement	81.2	0.9
ADVERTISING & PROMOTION per revenue passenger mile	55.3	0.6
UTILITIES & OFFICE SUPPLIES per full-time equivalent employee	112.0	0.6
TRANSPORT-RELATED per available seat mile	609.5	14.2
OTHER OPERATING per revenue ton mile	121.0	7.4
TOTAL OP. EXPENSES	nmf	100
INTEREST* as % of outstanding debt	123.1	nmf
COMPOSITE (PRETAX) EXPENSES*	261.6	nmf

*Although interest is a non-operating expense, it is factored into the composite cost index to capture the role of debt in the provision of air service. It is not included in the composite cost per ASM or share of operating expenses.

Labor
Wages, employee benefits (e.g., annuity payments, educational, medical, recreational and retirement programs) and payroll taxes (e.g., FICA, state and federal unemployment insurance). General management, flight personnel, maintenance labor, and aircraft and traffic handling personnel are all included in the calculation of labor costs.

Fuel
Cost of aviation fuel used in flight operations, excluding taxes, transportation, storage and into-plane expenses.

Aircraft Rents & Ownership
The cost of aircraft rentals, depreciation and amortization of flight equipment, including airframes and parts, aircraft engine and parts, capital leases and other flight equipment.

Non-Aircraft Rents & Ownership
Principally, the total cost of airport terminal rents. Non-aircraft rents and ownership also includes the cost of hangars, ground service/support equipment (GSE), storage and distribution equipment, and communication and meteorological equipment.

Professional Services
The cost of legal fees and expenses (e.g., attorney fees, retainer fees, witness expenses, legal forms, litigation costs), professional and technical fees and expenses (e.g., engineering and appraisal fees, consultants, market and traffic surveys, laboratory costs), as well as general services purchased outside (e.g., aircraft and general interchange service charges).

Food and Beverage
The cost of purchasing beverages and food, commissary supplies and outside catering charges.

Landing Fees
The cost of fees paid by the airlines to airports for runway and airport maintenance.

Maintenance Material
The cost of maintaining and purchasing materials for airframes, aircraft engines, ground property and equipment (excluding labor costs). Also includes the costs of maintaining a shop and servicing supplies (e.g., automotive, electrical, plumbing, sheet metal, small tools, glass and glass products, cleaning compounds).

Aircraft Insurance
The cost of flight equipment insurance, sometimes referred to as hull insurance.

Non-Aircraft Insurance
The cost of insurance unrelated to the hull itself. This category is broken down by two categories: general insurance (i.e., buildings and contents, materials and supplies, third party liability, passenger baggage and personal property) and traffic liability insurance (i.e., passenger baggage and personal property, cargo liability and provisions for self-insurance).

Passenger Commissions
The costs paid to passenger travel agencies for services.

Communication
The total cost of equipment and intercommunication rental and installation charges, telephone and teletype equipment, telegraph and cable message charges and navigation facility charges.

Advertising and Promotion
Includes the cost of producing tariffs, schedules, timetables and other promotional and publicity expenses (e.g., television, radio, entertainment, photography, graphics).

Utilities and Office Supplies
The cost of light, heat, power and water, stationary, printing (e.g., labels, small signs, ticket stock, paper products, company manuals), shipping and mailing supplies and other office supplies as well as cleaning compounds, safety, electrical, engineering, drafting, blue prints and photographic supplies.

Transport-Related Expenses
As defined by DOT, transport-related expenses are expenses incurred for providing air transportation facilities associated with the performance of service which emanate from and are incidental to air transportation services performed by the carrier. Following are some specific examples:

ABC Airlines issues tickets for flights operated by regional partner ABC Express. It pays ABC Express a fee to fly the code-share routes on its behalf. ABC Express reports the fee income as passenger revenue, to match the associated traffic, capacity and operating expenses. ABC Airlines reports the fare collected as transport-related revenue and reports the fee it paid to ABC Express as transport-related expense.
ABC Airlines performs maintenance for XYZ airlines. ABC Airlines reports the cost of labor, parts and materials for this in-sourced maintenance as transport-related expense.
ABC Airlines sells liquor and food on its flights. The amount that ABC Airlines paid for the liquor and food is reported as transport-related expense.
ABC Airlines operates a gift shop. The cost of running that gift shop is considered transport-related expense.

Other Operating Expenses
Includes the cost of miscellaneous expenses such as personnel expense, outside flight equipment, excess of losses over insurance recoveries, interrupted trips expense, memberships, corporate and fiscal expenses, uncollectible accounts, clearance customs and duties.

Interest
The total interest paid on long term debt, capital and other interest expenses. Included in this worksheet is the cost associated with average book debt outstanding and estimated off-balance sheet debt.

Composite
A weighted average of all components, including interest expense.