DOT 37-02
Thursday, April 11, 2002
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel: (202) 366-5571
DOT Airfare Report Shows
Impact of Low-Fare Competition
The introduction of low-fare airline competition in markets in the
Northeastern United States in recent years has led to dramatic decreases in
average fares in those markets, according to a report issued today by the U.S.
Department of Transportation.
A special section in the second-quarter 2001 Domestic Airline
Fares Consumer Report notes that, for many years, markets along the West
Coast enjoyed a much larger presence of low-fare carriers than did East Coast
markets. However, over the past
five years a number of low-fare competitors has entered markets in the east,
leading to a decrease in fares for short-distance East Coast flights compared to
the rest of the country.
Between the second quarter of 1996 and the second quarter of 2001,
average fares dropped 20 percent or more for flights from Albany, Buffalo and
Islip, NY; Manchester, NH; and Providence, RI, after the entry of low-fare
competition. In addition, passenger
levels on flights to and from those cities have increased rapidly.
The
report issued today, covering April-June 2001, includes the same top 1,000
city-pair markets in the 48 contiguous states that were in the first report of
this series, which covered the third quarter of 1996. The report also looks at
fares in 302 additional city-pair markets that have been in the top 1,000 during
previous quarters covered by this report series.
The report provides four basic types of information:
For each city-pair market, the average one-way fare, the number of
one-way passenger trips per day, and the nonstop distance. Also included is
fare and market share information for the airline with the largest market
share, and the airline with the lowest average fare.
A city-by-city information summary for the largest cities, showing
the number of passengers, the average fare, average fare per mile traveled
(yield) and average distance traveled.
Price and traffic information about city-pair markets that
experienced increases or decreases in average fares of more than 30 percent
compared with one year ago.
Detailed
fare information for the highest and lowest fares for city-pair markets
including the percentage of passengers paying the minimum fare, the maximum
fare and three times the minimum fare.
In order to provide users of this
report with more airport-specific detail, DOT has made a file available on the
Internet that provides the information from Table 1 of the report in
airport-pair detail for multiple-airport city-pairs.
The full report, and links to the data downloads related to this report,
can be found at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation
under “What’s Hot.”
The department will continue to issue the domestic airfare report
each quarter. Based upon public input, DOT will consider modifying the
information in the report to provide the fullest consumer benefit.
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