The average domestic air fare declined to $374 in the fourth quarter of 2012, down 0.2 percent from the average fare of $375 in the fourth quarter of 2011, measured in 2012 dollars (Table 1), the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today.  Huntsville, Ala., had the highest average fare, $544, while Atlantic City, N.J., had the lowest, $157 (Table 6).

The fourth-quarter 2012 fare in 2012 dollars was down 16.7 percent from the average fare of $449 in 2000, the highest of any fourth quarter adjusted for inflation (Table 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 abnormally high reported fares.

Passenger airlines collected 70.7 percent of their total revenue from passenger fares during the first nine months of 2012, down from 1990 when 87.6 percent of airline revenue was received from fares (Table 1A).

From 2000 to 2012, inflation-adjusted fares declined 16.7 percent while there was an overall increase in consumer prices of 32.0 percent. In the 17 years from 1995, inflation-adjusted fares declined 13.1 percent compared to a 49.6 percent increase in consumer prices (Table 2). See BTS Air Fare web page for historic data.

Quarter-to-Quarter Change
Inflation-adjusted fourth-quarter fares rose 2.6 percent from the third quarter of 2012 (Table 3). Quarter-to-quarter changes may be affected by seasonal factors.

Air Fares in Unadjusted Dollars
Not adjusted for inflation, the $374 fourth-quarter 2012 average fare was the highest average fare for any fourth quarter since BTS began collecting air fare records in 1995. The previous fourth-quarter high was $368 in 2011 (Table 4).

Unadjusted fourth-quarter 2012 fares were up 1.9 percent from the third quarter of 2012 (Table 5). Quarter-to-quarter changes may be affected by seasonal factors such as the number of passengers. See Tables 13-16 for additional unadjusted fare data by airport.

Fares by Airport
See Tables 6-8 for data about the top 100 airports based on 2011 originating passengers. All figures in 2012 dollars.

Table 6: Five highest and five lowest average fares in the fourth quarter: Huntsville had the highest average fare ($544) while Atlantic City had the lowest ($157). For the Top 100 Airports, see Table 10 on the BTS website.

Table 7: Five largest increases and five largest decreases in 2012 dollars from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the fourth quarter of 2012: Newport News/Williamsburg, Va., had the largest increase (29.2 percent) and Colorado Springs, CO, had the largest decrease (22.1 percent). For the Top 100 Airports, see Table 11 on the BTS website.

Table 8: Five largest increases and five largest decreases in 2012 dollars from the fourth quarter of 2000 to the fourth quarter of 2012: Newport News/Williamsburg had the largest increase (23.1 percent) and Atlantic City had the largest decrease (47.5 percent). For the Top 100 Airports, see Table 12 on the BTS website.

For additional data, see Top 100 Airports, Rankings  or All Airports. Since average fares are based on the Origin 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. First-quarter 2013 average fare data will be released on July 24.