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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

 International Departure/Arrival Tax

Screen with economic data trend lines

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​These taxes are periodically reauthorized by Congress. At times they have expired without reauthorization. For example, the taxes were not in effect January 1-August 26, 1996, January 1-March 6, 1997, or July 23-August 7, 2011. The segment tax is legislated to increase annually with the CPI effective January 1, 2003, rounded up to the nearest dime. Congress reauthorized the taxes in August 1997 for a 10-year period beginning October 1, 1997.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

DEPARTURE TAX ($)*

ARRIVAL TAX ($)*

July 1, 1970

3.00

-----

July 1, 1980

0.00

-----

September 1, 1982

3.00

-----

January 1, 1990

6.00

-----

October 1, 1997

12.00

12.00

January 1, 1999

12.20

12.20

January 1, 2000

12.40

12.40

January 1, 2001

12.80

12.80

January 1, 2002

13.20

13.20

January 1, 2003

13.40

13.40

January 1, 2004

13.70

13.70

January 1, 2005

14.10

14.10

January 1, 2006

14.50

14.50

January 1, 2007

15.10

15.10

January 1, 2008

15.40

15.40

January 1, 2009

16.10

16.10

January 1, 2010

16.10

16.10

January 1, 2011

16.30

16.30

​January 1, 2012 ​16.70 ​16.70
​January 1, 2013 ​17.20 ​17.20

 

* Effective, January 1, 2013, the rate for flights to/from Alaska/Hawaii is $8.60.
 



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