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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

A4A Commends DOT Secretary LaHood for Leadership In Fighting the EU ETS

News section: belly view of a plane flying overhead

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WASHINGTON, March 9, 2012 – Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, today commended Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for his unwavering support and efforts to overturn the application of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to U.S. airlines and aircraft operators.  
 
“We commend Secretary LaHood for once again speaking out against this unilateral and extraterritorial scheme, and for recognizing that assertive action is needed to reverse this directive, which violates international law and imposes an exorbitant tax on U.S. airlines,” said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “A4A urges the U.S. government to file an Article 84 legal proceeding at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as a means of overturning the ETS and bringing the Europeans back to the negotiating table. As Secretaries LaHood and Clinton correctly pointed out in a December letter to EU officials, the ETS is standing in the way of a global framework at ICAO that will produce positive, tangible results.”
 
Today, commercial airlines account for less than 2 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States and only 2 percent on a worldwide basis. Even so, A4A is part of a worldwide aviation coalition committed to further addressing aviation CO2 emissions through a global framework. 
 
ABOUT A4A
 
Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and more than 10 million U.S. jobs. A4A airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For more information about the airline industry, visit www.airlines.org and follow us on Twitter @airlinesdotorg.
 
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