Not adjusted for inflation, the $385 second-quarter 2012 average fares reached an all-time high for any quarter. The previous high was $373 in the first quarter of 2012. The previous second-quarter high was $370 in 2011. Second-quarter 2012 fares were $256 in 1995 dollars, down 15.4 percent from $302 in 1999, the inflation-adjusted high for any second quarter since BTS began collecting air fare records in 1995 (Tables 1 and 2).
BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reports average fares based on domestic itinerary fares. Itinerary fares consist of round-trip fares unless the customer does not purchase a return trip. In that case, the one-way fare is included. Fares are based on the total ticket value which consists of the price charged by the airlines plus any additional taxes and fees levied by an outside entity at the time of purchase. Fares include only the price paid at the time of the ticket purchase and do not include other fees, such as baggage fees, paid at the airport or onboard the aircraft. Averages do not include frequent-flyer or “zero fares” or a few abnormally high reported fares.
Passenger airlines collected 70.8 percent of their total revenue from passenger fares during the second quarter of 2012, down from 1990 when 87.6 percent of airline revenue was received from fares (Table 1A).
Air fares in the second quarter of 2012 increased 13.5 percent from the second quarter of 2000, not adjusted for inflation, compared to an overall increase in consumer prices of 25.0 percent during that period. In the 17 years from 1995, air fares rose 29.7 percent compared to a 50.5 percent inflation rate (Table 6). The average inflation-adjusted second-quarter 2012 fare in 1995 dollars was $256 compared to $297 in 1995 and $300 in 2000 (Table 1). See BTS Air Fare web page for historic data.
Unadjusted second-quarter 2012 fares were up 27.5 percent from the recession low of $302 in 2009 (Table 1).
Second-quarter fares increased 3.2 percent from the first quarter of 2012 (Table 2). Quarter-to-quarter changes may be affected by seasonal factors such as the number of passengers. In the last 18 years, U.S. airlines carried an average of 14.7 percent more originating passengers in the second quarter of the year than in the first quarter. The number of originating passengers rose by 14.0 percent in the second quarter of 2012 from the first quarter.
See Tables 3-5 for data about the top 100 airports based on 2011 originating passengers.
Table 3: Five highest and five lowest average fares in the second quarter: Cincinnati, a market with a high representation of business travelers, had the highest average fare ($535) while Atlantic City, a leisure-dominated market, had the lowest ($166). For the Top 100 Airports, see Table 8 on the BTS website.
Table 4: Five largest increases and five largest decreases from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012: Newport News/Williamsburg, VA, had the largest increase, 24.9 percent, and Atlantic City, had the largest decrease, 19.2 percent. For the Top 100 Airports, see Table 9 on the BTS website.
Table 5: Five largest increases and five largest decreases from the second quarter of 2001 to the second quarter of 2012: Newport News/Williamsburg had the largest increase, 63.9 percent, and White Plains, NY, had the largest decrease, 33.8 percent. For the Top 100 Airports, see Table 10 on the BTS website.
For additional data, see Top 100 Airports, Rankings or All Airports. Since average fares are based on theOrigin and Destination Survey 10 percent ticket sample, averages for airports with smaller samples may be less reliable. Fares for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico airports are not included in rankings but are available on the web page. Third-quarter 2012 average fare data will be released in January 2013.
For full release, see http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2012/bts051_12/html/bts051_12.html.
Source: US DOT
|
