Safety

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
In 2012, U.S. airlines moved more than 48,000 tons of cargo per day
In 2012, the value of a kilogram of U.S. merchandise exported by air averaged 121 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
In 2011, U.S. airlines carried 16 percent more passengers and cargo using 10 percent less fuel than in 2000
Domestically, airlines drive 5% of economic activity but account for 2% of man-made GHG emissions
From 2000-2011, airlines reduced GHG emissions by 11% while transporting 16% more passengers and cargo
From 1975-2011, U.S. airlines and their partners reduced significant noise exposure by 99%
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 2000-2012, U.S. airlines improved the on-time arrival rate from 72.6% to 81.9%
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines reduced the flight cancellation rate sharply from 3.30% to 1.29%
Airfares are a bargain: From 2000-2012, U.S. CPI rose 33% while average domestic fare rose just 14%
Adjusted for inflation, the average round-trip domestic airfare fell 15% from 2000
2007 domestic flight delays cost the United States approximately $31 billion
In 2012, the value of U.S. merchandise exported by air reached an all-time high of $427B
In 2012, U.S. exports of air-travel services reached an all-time high of $39.5B, driving a $5.1B trade surplus
In 2012, U.S. passenger and cargo airlines spent more than $50B on fuel, averaging 36% of operating expenses
In 2012, U.S. airlines posted the lowest annual rate of mishandled baggage ever recorded
FAA projects U.S. air travel demand to top 1 billion passengers in 2027
In 2012, US airlines flew 83.4 million passengers in scheduled international service - a record high
In 2012, the total value of merchandise exported from or imported to the United States by air exceeded $927 billion
In 2012, 7.15 teragrams of merchandise was exported from or imported to the United States by air

	Safety
	PubZone1 Safety is the number-one priority of America’s airlines, and air travel continues to be the world’s safest mode of transportation. Airlines work collaboratively with the FAA, the NTSB, manufacturers, employees, labor groups and others to ensure the safety of passengers and crew members. Today the U.S. airline industry is the largest and safest in the world, the result of rigorous data-driven collaboration and the gold standard against which other nations are measured. New regulations must be driven by sound science, credible data and provide real safety improvements The primary responsibility for airline safety regulation lies with the Federal Aviation Administration, which among other duties, is responsible for developing, maintaining and operating the nation’s air traffic control system. According to the FAA, NextGen is a comprehensive overhaul of our National Airspace System to make air travel more convenient and dependable while ensuring flights are as safe, secure and hassle-free as possible. In a continuous rollout of improvements/upgrades, the FAA is building the capability to guide and track air traffic more precisely and efficiently, reduce delays, save fuel, and reduce noise and pollution. NextGen is better for our customers, better for our environment – and better for our economy. Airlines for America (A4A) and its members collaborate extensively with the FAA and the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) to help shape NextGen policies program implementation. JPDO promotes long-term NextGen research activities and provides the formal mechanism for government agencies to coordinate on NextGen. A4A collaborates through Federal Advisory Committees, Aviation Rulemaking Committees, participation in JPDO activities and consensus-based advisory activities The airline members of the A4A Safety Council provide industry leadership to the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST), a unique consortium of government aviation safety-related agencies, airline safety experts, aviation employee associations, aviation manufacturers and academic institutions committed to implementing voluntary safety enhancements to prevent fatal airline accidents. CAST developed risk-reduction tools aimed at avoiding in-flight/ground loss of control, controlled flight into terrain, approach and landing accidents, midair collisions, fire/explosion, runway collisions, uncontained engine failures and crew incapacitation. New work involves developing methodologies for early identification of adverse trends (possible accident precursors) in areas such as wrong runway departures, runway incursions, runway excursions, etc. FAA and the airline industry developed the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system to enable users to perform integrated queries across multiple safety databases; as of April 7, 2011, 38 airlines were participating. PubZone2	A4A advocates measures to support aviation safety, security and well-being.