Airline Quarterly Financial Review

Overview

The reports below contain tables and charts on the financial condition of the U.S. Major and Passenger National airlines. All data presented in this financial and traffic review are derived from data reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation on Form 41 Schedules by Large Certificated Air Carriers.

The data are presented on both a carrier group and an individual carrier basis, but the primary focus is on individual carrier system entity performance. Data are presented for the most recent quarterly period compared to the prior year’s quarter, and 12-month ended data of the five most recent quarters compared to the same period one year prior. A graphic presentation of comparative trends, on a carrier group basis, is made for several unit and overall financial indicators.

Considerations when viewing the reports:

In the case of merged carriers, data for the carriers involved have been combined and presented under the name of the surviving carrier so that meaningful (proforma) comparisons can be made.  See endnotes for further information regarding timing of mergers.

In some instances, a metric in the individual carrier report will show a symbol.  Please see the endnotes for a glossary of symbols.

While the Office of Aviation Analysis has reviewed the reports for obvious errors, the data are presented as reported by the carriers to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and have not been verified or compared to publicly filed financial documents.

Carriers can move between groupings (Majors and Nationals) based on the criteria listed below over time. Each report includes 18 quarters of data.  In the instance where a carrier falls into both groupings during the 18 quarters, a carrier will appear in both reports. The data from the Majors report and the data from the Nationals report should not be combined without ensuring any duplications are removed.

Carrier Group Definitions

• Majors: Air carriers with annual operating revenues exceeding $1,000,000,000
• Nationals: Air carriers with annual operating revenues between $100,000,000 and $1,000,000,000
• Large Regionals: Air carriers with operating revenues between $20,000,000 and $99,000,000
• Medium Regionals: Carriers with annual operating revenues less than $19,999,999 or that operate only aircraft with 60 seats or less (or 18,000 lbs. maximum payload)

Certain data in this review are classified in two broad categories: namely “Domestic” and “International” services. “Domestic” service encompasses operations within and between the 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It also encompasses Canadian transborder operations and Mexican transborder operations. All other operations are considered “International” services, which include operations in the Atlantic, Latin, and Pacific regions.

Suggestions from users for improving either the scope, presentation, or utility of this review are welcomed. Please feel free to make suggestions, provide discrepancy details or error information to the Competition and Policy Analysis Division, Office of Aviation Analysis, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. 20590.

Comments on the COVID-19 global pandemic impact: 

The pandemic’s full impact on traffic and revenue levels is reflected beginning in the second quarter 2020 report and will be reflected in subsequent quarterly reports.  Both Domestic and International traffic and revenue fell sharply.  Any Payroll Support Programs passed by the U.S. Congress in the form of grants or loans to carriers may not be reflected in revenue or expense numbers of these quarterly reports.

Major Group Passenger and All-Cargo Carriers

Note: Data for individual carriers in unavailable quarters may still be available in raw data format below although data for the entire group could be incomplete.

National Group - Passenger Carriers Only

Table Data - Major and Passenger Nationals

The data for the Airline Quarterly Financial Review can be found at DOT's public data portal, data.transportation.gov.  This portal allows the public to access and extract data sets for multiple time periods using user-specified criteria.  Please click the links below to be redirected to the site:

Major Group and All-Cargo Carriers:

• https://data.transportation.gov/Aviation/Airline-Quarterly-Financial-Review-Majors/evch-7vws

National Group - Passenger Carriers Only:

• https://data.transportation.gov/Aviation/Airline-Quarterly-Financial-Review-Nationals/cx9t-c4ar

Aviation Source Data - All Reporting Airlines

• Aviation Data Library to access source data reported to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.