NEWS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2005 – The Air Transport Association (ATA) is expecting approximately 200 million passengers to travel on our nation’s airlines this summer. Throughout the summer – Memorial Day through Labor Day – the U.S. airlines are expecting to carry 4.1 percent more passengers than they carried during the same period in 2004.
Despite the strong growth in travel, high fuel prices, excessive taxes and low fares will continue to constrain the industry’s financial recovery. Every penny increase in the price of jet fuel adds $186 million in additional annual expenses for the industry, or an additional $5.5 billion for fuel this year. And although fares have crept up slightly in recent weeks, ticket prices are comparable to what consumers paid during the mid-1980s. Add to that the high tax burden placed on air travelers – 26 percent of a typical $200 domestic roundtrip ticket – and the industry is fighting an uphill battle.
“Low fares continue to prompt high travel volumes and the situation this summer will be no exception,” said ATA President and CEO James C. May. “Nonetheless, the carriers will continue to struggle with high fuel prices and government-imposed costs, erasing much of the gain they would expect to see otherwise from the massive cost-cutting measures they’ve undertaken during the last few years.”
“Right now, carriers have very little ability to pass on the additional costs in the price of a ticket, due to an intensely competitive marketplace,” he added. “While this has been a financial burden for the airlines, it’s been a bonanza for consumers who continue to enjoy great deals on air travel.”
The Air Transport Association is the trade association for the leading U.S. airlines. ATA member airlines transport more than 90 percent of all passenger and cargo traffic in the United States.
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