2019 Annual and 4th Quarter U.S. Airline Financial Data
U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reported a 2019 after-tax net profit of $14.8 billion, the 7th consecutive annual after-tax profit and a pre-tax operating profit of $20.8 billion, the 11th consecutive annual pre-tax profit.
U.S. airline financial reports are filed quarterly with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). See the tables that accompany this release on the BTS website for additional 2019 annual (Tables 1-6) and fourth-quarter (Tables 7-12) financial results.
2019 Annual Results for All 21 Scheduled Passenger Airlines
Figure 1. Systemwide U.S. Scheduled Service Passenger Airlines Annual Net Income, 2019
| billions of dollars ($) | 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 24.8 | 2 |
| 2016 | 14.0 | 3 |
| 2017 | 15.3 | 4 |
| 2018 | 11.8 | 5 |
| 2019 | 14.8 | 6 |
| 7 |
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Schedule P1.2 http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Fields.asp?Table_ID=295
After-tax net income
- $14.8 billion in 2019 (7th consecutive annual after-tax net profit)
- Up from $11.8 billion in 2018
Pre-tax operating profit
- $20.8 billion in 2019 (11th consecutive annual pre-tax operating profit)
- Up from $17.6 billion in 2018
- Total operating revenue: $196.2 billion
- $145.2 billion from fares, 74.0% of total 2019 operating revenue
- $5.8 billion in baggage fees, 2.9% of total operating revenue
- $2.8 billion from reservation change fees, 1.4% of total operating revenue
- Total operating expenses: $175.4 billion
- Fuel costs accounted for $32.8 billion, 18.7% of total operating expenses
- Labor costs accounted for $60.3 billion, 34.4% of total operating expenses
Fees are included for calculations of net income, operating revenue and operating profit or loss.
Domestic results for 21 scheduled airlines
Figure 2. Domestic U.S. Scheduled Service Passenger Airlines Annual Net Income, 2019
| billions of dollars ($) | 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 18.0 | 2 |
| 2016 | 10.3 | 3 |
| 2017 | 13.2 | 4 |
| 2018 | 8.6 | 5 |
| 2019 | 11.0 | 6 |
| 7 |
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Schedule P1.2 http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Fields.asp?Table_ID=295
After-tax domestic net income
- $11.0 billion in 2019 (7th consecutive annual domestic after-tax net profit)
- Up from $8.6 billion in 2018
Pre-tax domestic operating profit
- $15.8 billion in 2019 (11th consecutive annual domestic pre-tax operating profit)
- Up from $13.2 billion in 2018
International results for 18 scheduled U.S. airlines
Figure 3. International U.S. Scheduled Service Passenger Airlines Annual Net Income, 2019
| billions of dollars ($) | 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 6.8 | 2 |
| 2016 | 3.8 | 3 |
| 2017 | 2.1 | 4 |
| 2018 | 3.2 | 5 |
| 2019 | 3.8 | 6 |
| 7 |
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Schedule P1.2 http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Fields.asp?Table_ID=295
After-tax international net income
- $3.8 billion in 2019 (10th consecutive annual international after-tax net profit)
- Up from $3.2 billion in 2018
Pre-tax international operating profit
- $5.0 billion in 2019 (11th consecutive annual international pre-tax operating profit)
- Up from $4.4 billion in 2018
4Q 2019 Results for All 21 Scheduled U.S. Passenger Airlines
Figure 4. Systemwide U.S. Scheduled Service Passenger Airlines Quarterly Net Income, 4Q 2019
| billions of dollars ($) | 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4Q2018 | 2.9 | 2 | |||
| 1Q2019 | 2.4 | 3 | |||
| 2Q2019 | 4.8 | 4 | |||
| 3Q2019 | 4.6 | 5 |
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Schedule P1.2 http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Fields.asp?Table_ID=295
After-tax net income
- $3.4 billion in 4Q 2019 (27th consecutive quarterly after-tax net profit)
- Down from $4.6 billion in 3Q 2019
- Up from $2.9 billion in 4Q 2018
- $2.7 billion from domestic operations, $690.8 million from international operations
Pre-tax operating profit
- $4.6 billion in 4Q 2019 (35th consecutive quarterly pre-tax operating profit)
- Down from $6.4 billion in 3Q 2019
- Up from $3.9 billion in 4Q 2018
- $3.7 billion from domestic operations, $864.1 million from international operations
Reporting notes
Additional data: BTS website, see tables for operating profit/loss, operating revenue and fuel cost and consumption. See the BTS financial databases for more detailed data including numbers for individual airlines.
Filing requirement: By regulation, for the quarter ending Dec. 31, airlines that operate at least one aircraft that is designed/certified for more than 60 seats or the capacity to carry a payload of passengers and cargo weighing more than 18,000 pounds must report financial data to BTS by March 31. The airline filings are subject to a process of quality assurance and data validations before release to the public.
Data updates: Revised carrier data and late data filings will be made available monthly on TranStats on the Monday following the second Tuesday of the month. All data are subject to revision. BTS will release first-quarter 2020 data on June 15.