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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 13%

  • 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

 Public Policy Letters OpEd

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PubZone1
A4A may submit articles, have opinion pieces (Op-Eds) and/or letters to the editor for publishing in various news outlets. This section includes links to those publicly available opinion pieces.


Travelers Pay for System, Let It Work (3/19/2013)
A4A President and CEO Nicholas Calio responds to the National Journal Transportation Blog, "It's a Sin to Fly."
Sequester Shouldn’t Affect Air Travel (2/26/2013)
A4A President and CEO Nicholas Calio responds to the National Journal Transportation Blog, "The Airport Canary in the Sequestration Coal Mine."
EU ETS Remains Bad News For U.S. Airlines (2/11/2013)
A4A Vice President for environmental affairs, Nancy Young writes an op-ed in Aviation Daily explaining how EU ETS is bad news for U.S. airlines.
Opposing view: Let airlines set baggage policies (11/22/2011)
Airlines have found that a fee is not the sole driver in a customer's decision to check a bag, and today fewer than one in four customers pay a fee.
Aviation Infrastructure Is Vital to Winning the Future (2/9/2011)
In a guest opinion article, ATA President and CEO Nick Calio writes how a NextGen air traffic management system will unleash the true economic power of commercial aviation and benefit every industry in this country.
Viewpoint: ATA's Calio Calls for Investment (2/9/2011)
ATA President and CEO Nick Calio writes in the Aviation Daily Departures column that it is aviation infrastructure that will advance our nation’s stated ambition of doubling our exports in the next five years.
Industry Recommendations Should Be Blueprint for Needed Policies in FAA Reauthorization Bill (12/20/2010)
ATA President and CEO James C. May responds to the National Journal Transportation Blog on the topic, "FAA: Could it Finally Happen?"
National Journal Blog Post on President Obama's Infrastructure Investment Proposal (9/13/2010)
ATA President and CEO James C. May posts a response to the National Journal Transportation blog regarding President Obama's wide-ranging transportation and infrastructure plan.
ATA Opposing View of the USA Today Editorial Regarding Price Transparency We're Already Transparent (9/2/2010)
ATA provided a response to the USA Today editorial calling for ancillary fees to be disclosed earlier in the shopping process.
National Journal Blog Post on Taxing Ancillary Fees (7/28/2010)
ATA President and CEO comments on a National Journal blog post that asks whether airlines should be taxed on a la carte services they offer passengers.
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PubZone2
A4A advocates measures to support aviation safety, security and well-being.

What the Experts Say:
“The aviation industry and its many governmental allies strongly believe that ICAO is the proper government body to establish any aviation emissions program — not the EU. ICAO approved the outline of the airlines' emissions-reduction proposal back in 2010…Only a truly international approach will attain the universal goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions and combating global warming.”
Nicholas E. Calio, president and CEO & Capt. Lee Moak, president, A4A & ALPA

​USA Today

03/27/2012
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