Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF)

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

	Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF)
	PubZone1 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides services to commercial, private, corporate and military aircraft. In large part, the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury supports the nonairline functions of the FAA. The balance of the FAA budget is funded primarily by airlines and their customers through the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF), which Congress established in 1970 “to provide for the expansion and improvement of the nation’s airport and airway system.” The Trust Fund initially aimed to address capital needs, such as runways and taxiways at airports and new computers and radar equipment for the air traffic control (ATC) system. Since then, however, Congress also has used Trust Fund revenues to cover much of the FAA operating budget. Trust Fund revenues [ticket taxes expired 1/1/96-8/26/96, 1/1/97-3/6/97 and 7/23/11-8/7/11] come from several taxes paid by users of the nation’s airports and ATC services. Congress has increased these taxes, both in scope and size, several times in the last two decades. The cash balance has historically been counted as a credit against federal obligations, thus helping (albeit artificially) to balance the nation’s budget. With enactment of AIR-21, Congress mandated that all taxes and interest paid into the fund in any given year be expended the following year, to help ensure that critical capital-development projects are not neglected. Sources Airport and Airway Development and Airport and Airway Revenue Acts (Titles I and II, P.L. 91-258) Office of Management and Budget, Appendices, Budget of the United States (www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget) U.S. House of Representatives, House Report No. 91-601 Congressional Budget Office, “The Status of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund: A Special Study,” December 1988 PubZone2	U.S. airlines are indispensable facilitators of the U.S. economy.