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  • 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

 Aviation Coalition Urges the Senate to Allow Continued DOD Work on Alternative Aviation Fuels

Plane flying over a field

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 aviation coalition.png
 
May 23, 2012
 
Senator Carl Levin​
Chairman
Committee on Armed Services
228 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
​Senator John McCain
Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services
228 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
 
Dear Chairman Levin and Ranking Member McCain,
 
As associations representing all segments of the aviation community, we write to express our strong support for initiatives by the Department of Defense (DOD) to research, test and deploy biofuels in the aviation sector. Such efforts to develop alternative energy sources to foreign oil are critical to ensuring that our country can become more energy independent while helping protect against high costs and volatility in this market.
 
It is our collective belief that the ongoing efforts of the United States military on alternative fuels are helping reduce the cost of those alternatives and will ultimately help reduce our reliance on foreign oil. The biofuels industry is rapidly developing and has the potential to save taxpayers millions as well as provide a much-needed, supply-based hedge against the volatility resulting from reliance on unstable sources of oil. DOD’s work is being leveraged to move more quickly toward commercial viability of alternatives by demonstrating large scale production as well as making the price more competitive. For these reasons, we are concerned that language included in the House of Representatives DOD Authorization bill prescribing a price for purchase of alternative fuels could thwart achieving our nation’s energy independence and security goals.
 
In addition to helping address our nation’s energy challenges, DOD’s work on alternative fuels will help meet our nation’s environmental challenges as well. While aviation operators have the strong incentive of the high cost of fuel to be extremely fuel efficient, they are part of a worldwide aviation coalition that has proposed a "global sectoral approach" to further address aviation carbon emissions through an aggressive set of measures and targets. These targets include an annual average fuel-efficiency improvement of 1.5 percent through 2020 and carbon-neutral growth from 2020, subject to critical government infrastructure and technology investments such as air traffic control modernization, with an aspirational goal of a 50 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 relative to 2005 levels. Our plan is to achieve these goals through new aircraft technology, sustainable alternative aviation fuels and air traffic management and infrastructure improvements. Each of these pillars is vital, but the contribution of alternative fuels could in fact be a "game changer."
 
We believe the ongoing military and civil aviation efforts must be continued and we strongly advocate that you prioritize and fund investment in aviation biofuels in what we all acknowledge is a difficult fiscal environment. Ultimately, we are convinced that this is an investment that will pay off by saving taxpayers millions through achieving energy security and independence.
 
Thank you for your leadership and we will look forward to working with you on this issue that is vital to our nation’s aviation and manufacturing sector.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Aerospace Industries Association
Air Line Pilots Association
Airlines for America
Airports Council International – North America
American Association of Airport Executives
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
Cargo Airline Association
CC: Members of the Senate Committee on Armed Services
General Aviation Manufacturers Association
International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers
National Air Carrier Association
National Air Transportation Association
National Business Aviation Association
Regional Airline Association
 
CC: Members of the Senate Committee on Armed Services 


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A4A supports a truly comprehensive, meaningfully balanced U.S. energy policy and is committed to protecting our planet.

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