U.S. Passenger Carrier Delay Costs

In 2023, the average cost of aircraft block (taxi plus airborne) time for U.S. passenger airlines was $100.80 per minute. Fuel expense, the largest line item, declined 11.6 percent to $37.27 per minute. Labor costs, the second largest line item, rose 12.7 percent to $32.68 per minute. Maintenance expense rose 7.2 percent and aircraft ownership declined 5.1 percent, while all other costs rose 5.6 percent.

Note: costs based on DOT Form 41 data for U.S. scheduled passenger airlines

Additional Costs

Delayed aircraft are estimated to have cost the airlines several billion dollars in additional expense. Delays also drive the need for extra gates and ground personnel and impose costs on airline customers (including shippers) in the form of lost productivity, wages, and goodwill.

Assuming $47 per hour* as the average value of a passenger’s time, flight delays are estimated to have cost air travelers billions of dollars. FAA/Nextor estimated the annual costs of delays (direct cost to airlines and passengers, lost demand, and indirect costs) in 2019 to be $33 billion.

Implications

ATC delays, especially enroute delays, prevail in many parts of the national airspace system. Moreover, our airport and airway infrastructure can not be scaled to meet future demand as anticipated in the FAA aerospace forecasts . In addition to new runways, the deployment of modern ATC technologies and changes to operational procedures are critical to the nation’s air system and the economy.

* FAA-recommended value: https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/policy_guidance/benefit_cost/media/econ-value-section-1-tx-time.pdf