NEWS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2007 – The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization representing leading U.S. airlines, today announced the release of its quarterly Airline Cost Index, incorporating data through the third quarter of 2006.
The ATA Airline Cost Index tracks quarterly and annual trends in the cost of inputs to passenger airline production. The index facilitates comparisons between the components themselves as well as broader economic indicators. Key ratios emanating from the Airline Cost Index include: fuel efficiency, workforce productivity, average labor cost, break-even load factor and travel agency commission rates. Year-over-year highlights from the latest cost index include:
- The airline composite cost index rose to 176.7, up 19.3 percent, compared to a 3.3 percent rise in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- The three largest cost components for the quarter were fuel (27.4 percent), labor (23.6 percent) and transport-related expenses (13.9 percent)
- Fuel costs increased 23 percent, from $1.70 to $2.09 per gallon; meanwhile, average fuel efficiency rose 5.9% to 50.1 revenue passenger miles per gallon and 5.3% to 62.3 available seat miles per gallon
- The average cost of employing a full-time equivalent worker was flat at $71,413
- The overall unit operating cost per available seat mile rose 1.4 percent, from 12.08 cents to 12.25 cents
- The average break-even load factor dropped 5.1 points to 77.2 percent
ATA airline members transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic.
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