Airline Data and Analysis
By AirlineFinancials.com LLC
Last update to this page was June 2, 2010.
This page will provide an overall summary of the large legacy airlines covered by this website and compare selected metrics for year ending 2009 with year 2000.
Note: Year 2000 was the last year of the most recent industry growth period. It was also the last year before the tragic events of 911 caused the largest financial destruction the airline industry has ever experienced.
American Airlines acquired selected assets of TWA in April of 2001. TWA data is combined with American from year 2001 forward. Where noted, AA and TW data is adjusted proforma for year 2000.
Delta acquired Northwest in October 2008. Year 2008 data for DAL and NWA is primarily from the BTS and may not reconcile with the SEC filings.
American Airline employees agreed to wage and benefit concessions in the 2nd quarter of 2003.
Continental Airline pilots agreed to wage and benefit concessions in the 2nd quarter of 2005. Continental flight attendants agreed to wage and benefit concessions in the first quarter of 2006.
United Airlines operated under bankruptcy provisions from December 2002 until February 2006.
Northwest Airlines operated under bankruptcy provisions from September 2005 until May of 2007.
Delta Airlines operated under bankruptcy provisions from September 2005 until April 2007.
US Airways operated under bankruptcy provisions from August 2000 until March of 2003 and again from September 2004 until September 2005. The merger of US Airways and America West was approved in September of 2005.
Index of charts comparing year 2009 to year 2000-
1. Operating revenue (mill)
2. Passenger revenue (mill)
3. Total Assets (mill)
4. Net debt (LT debt - Cash & short-term investments in millions)
5. Aircraft
6. Capacity (ASM) (mill)
7. Load factor percentage
8. Yield
9. Employees
10. Pilots
11. Flight Attendants
12. Total fuel expense (mill)
13. Wage/benefit expense (mill)
14. Wage/salary expense total (W2) (mill)
15. Pilot wage expense (W2) (mill)
16. Flight Attendant wage expense (W2) (mill)
17. Passenger count (one way)
18. Average passenger fare
19. Pilot wage/salary cost of avg pass fare
20. Pilot wage/salary cost % of avg pass fare
21. Flight Attendant wage/salary cost of avg pass fare
22. Flight Attendant wage/salary cost % of avg pass fare
23. Ratio of passengers per employee
24. Ratio of passengers per FA
25. Daily aircraft block hours (average)
NOTES –
Some data has been excluded due to bankruptcy accounting or/and having irrelevant impact for comparison.
Some calculations use cumulative data with a year ending divisor which may cause a distortion of the conclusion.
SEC & BTS data for wage/benefits may not be reported the same
(SEC) US Security and Exchange Commission
(BTS) Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Note: There are differences between how airlines categorize data for BTS & SEC reports.
Total revenue excludes recognized affiliate passenger revenue.
Operating expense excludes recognized affiliate expenses.
Operating income (loss) excludes known affiliate revenue and expenses.
Active full time equivalent employees from BTS data. May be estimated when data is not available.
Avg passenger fare is calculated from passenger revenue/passenger count.
Delta reports consolidated mainline and affiliate data for several categories. As such, airline to airline comparisons may not be valid.
Glossary of Terms-
ASM— Available Seat Mile. A measure of capacity. ASM’s equal the total number of seats available for transporting passengers during a reporting period multiplied by the total number of miles flown during that period.
RPM— Revenue Passenger Mile. One revenue-paying passenger transported one mile. RPM's equal the number of revenue passengers during a reporting period multiplied by the number of miles flown by those passengers during that period, RPM’s are also referred to as “traffic”.
Yield— The amount of passenger revenue earned per RPM during a reporting period.
RASM— Operating Revenue per ASM. The amount of operating revenue earned per ASM during a reporting period. RASM is also referred to as “unit revenue.”
PRASM— Passenger Revenue per ASM. The amount of passenger revenue earned per ASM during a reporting period. Passenger RASM is also referred to as “unit revenue.”
CASM— (Operating) Cost per Available Seat Mile. The amount of operating cost incurred per ASM during a reporting period, also referred to as “unit cost”.
LF-- Passenger Load Factor — A measure of utilized available seating capacity calculated by dividing RPMs by ASM’s for a reporting period.
Average fare-- Represents the average one-way fare paid per flight segment by a revenue passenger
o/w -- One way
Disclaimer: Data source includes SEC, BTS, labor web sites & Corporate Reports. Except where noted, recognized affiliate revenue and costs were removed to provide mainline comparisons. All data is subject to unintentional errors. For more equivalent comparisons, some UAL, NWA & DAL data immediately pre & post bankruptcy was used.
