U.S. Domestic Airline Fuel Efficiency Ranking, 2014

In September 2013, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) released a benchmark study comparing the fuel efficiency of major U.S. airlines on domestic operations in 2010. The study was subsequently updated for 2011, 2012, and 2013. The studies apply a methodology developed by the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR) at the University of California, Berkeley, to compare the relative fuel efficiencies of airlines irrespective of size, operational structure, and business model. This paper updates those earlier reports with new data on the fuel efficiency of U.S. domestic operations in 2014. Key findings include: (1) Alaska, Spirit, Frontier, and Southwest Airlines remained the top four most fuel-efficient airlines on U.S. domestic operations in 2014. On average, Alaska has operated the most efficient U.S. domestic flights for five years running since 2010. (2) The fuel efficiency gap between the most and least efficient airlines narrowed slightly to 25% in 2014, compared with 27% in 2013. (3) On a passenger mile per fuel metric, overall industry fuel efficiency improved by 1.7% from 2013 to 2014. Operational improvements, including a 1% gain in passenger load factor and 1.6% increase in seating density (seats available per unit floor area), accounted for most of the observed fuel efficiency gains. Fleet renewal programs and reduced usage of older aircraft also helped reduce airline fuel consumption. (4) A steady increase in seats available per flight, driven by upgrading to larger aircraft and adding more seats to aircraft of a given size, has been observed over the past five years. These changes, which allow airlines to move the same number of passengers on fewer flights, translate to increased fuel efficiency but at the cost of reduced passenger comfort and access (fewer airports served and/or longer wait times between flights). (5) All major airlines were profitable in 2014. A stronger correlation between fuel efficiency and profitability was observed in 2014 than in 2013, despite a sharp fall in oil prices in the latter half of the year.

• Record URL:
  http://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_USairline-ranking_2014.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2015 Guozhen Li et al., International Council on Clean Transportation.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)

  1500 K Street NW, Suite 650
  Washington, DC  United States  20005
• Authors:
  • Li, Guozhen
  • Kwan, Irene
  • Rutherford, Daniel
• Publication Date: 2015-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: White Paper
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 18p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airlines; Fuel consumption; Profitability; Ranking (Statistics); Vehicle capacity
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Energy; Vehicles and Equipment; I90: Vehicles;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01587692
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 27 2016 5:11PM