Socio-economic Factors in the Growth of Aviation
Fact Sheet

1.	The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 opened the door to intense competition among domestic airlines.  

2.	Low-cost air carriers have continually attempted to exploit the opportunity provided by deregulation.  Although only a few have succeeded, the result has been nearly constant price competition in the largest markets across the country.  Successful low-cost carriers (e.g. Airtran, American TransAir, Frontier, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines) have exerted downward pressure on fares in the markets they serve.    

3.	The real cost of air travel has decreased significantly through the years, a trend that was already occurring long before deregulation.  Deregulation further reduced those costs.  While the CPI increased by 910% from 1946 to 2000, domestic airfares increased by only 300%.  

4.	Contributing to the lower costs were more efficient aircraft (efficiency meaning the ability to fly more revenue-passenger-miles per dollar).
a.	The advent of jet aircraft in the late 1950s.
b.	The advent of the jumbo jet in the early 1970s.
c.	Increased fuel efficiency.  Revenue-passenger-miles per gallon increased from 18 in 1975 to 39 in 2001.
d.	The two-pilot cockpit largely replaced the three-pilot cockpit.
e.	The advent of the "regional jet" in the late 1990s, allowing fast and economical flights on low-density routes.

5.	The number of enplaned passengers on domestic airlines increased from 275 million in 1978 to 670 million in 2000, before dropping to 625 million in 2001.   

6.	Changes in business models, especially the reduction of inventories and the use of "just-in-time" supply, increased the need for air cargo delivery.  

7.	The invention of an efficient and economical express parcel delivery system increased the dependence of business on the use of overnight express shipping and delivery.  

RESOURCES/REFERENCES
The Airports Council International - North America is a trade association of airports that promotes the sharing of information and research among its members and lobbies national governments and international bodies on behalf of airports.  Its website is  www.aci-na.org.

The Air Transport Association is a trade organization that represents 27 passenger and cargo airlines.  (This includes several foreign airlines that are associate members.  Its website, www.airlines.org/public/home/default1.asp, has a variety of reports and statistics relating to the air transportation industry.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for the safe use of the nations airports and airways, is a source of much information about the aviation system.  It produces forecasts of aviation activity on a regular basis.  The latest aerospace forecasts are available at this website: www.api.faa.gov/foreca01/Tabofcont.htm.  The FAA also produces "terminal area forecasts" for the 315 airports in the country with airport traffic control towers.  See www.api.faa.gov/taf97/taftoc.htm.