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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Third Quarter 2025 Average Air Fare Decreases 4.7% from Second Quarter 2025

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

BTS 26-28

In the third quarter of 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) transitioned to a new collection of passenger tickets, and launched the Origin-Destination Survey of Airline Passengers (OD40) program. Prior to the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, the ticket sampling collection was performed on a 10% basis. Beginning July 1, 2025, the ticket sampling collection changed to a 40% basis of all U.S. air carriers that operate scheduled passenger service. The Domestic Average Fares in this report and data tables are based on the 40% sampling. Fares prior to Q3 2025 will remain based on the 10% ticket sampling. Find more information about the transition to the OD40 on the BTS OD-40 page.

The average U.S. domestic air fare decreased in the third quarter of 2025 to $370, down 4.7% from the second quarter 2025 inflation-adjusted fare of $388.  
 

This graphic shows two pictures of airlines tickets overlapping each other. The title of the graphic is U.S. Domestic Air Fares. The first comparison is the 2025 Quarter 3 fare compared against the fare from 2025 Quarter 2. The Quarter 3 2025 fare is down 4.7% from the Quarter 2 2025 fare. A down arrow is present. The second comparison is a comparison of the 2025 Quarter 3 versus the 2024 Quarter 3 fare. A down arrow is also present as the 2025 Quarter 3 is down 1.6% from the 2024 Quarter 3 fare.

  
Itinerary Fares: Round-trips, but includes one-way tickets if no return is purchased.
Breakout of trip types: one-way, 45% ($266); round-trip, 55% ($451).

Fare calculations by BTS

*Based on a sample of approximately 40% of tickets sold. 

Total ticket value: The price charged by airlines at time of ticket purchase.

Included: All fees and charges levied by an air carrier required for the passenger to board the aircraft.   Also, additional taxes and fees levied by an outside entity at time of ticket purchase. 

Not included: Fees for optional services, such as baggage fees, seat upgrades, and selecting an assigned seat on the aircraft. 

S Average Domestic Fares, 3rd Quarter, 1995-2025: This line graph illustrates the inflation adjusted fare and the non-inflation adjusted fare from 1995 through 2025. The axis at the bottom represents the year. Each year’s inflation and non-inflation adjusted fare are displayed. The 2025 Quarter 3 fare adjusted to 1995 dollars is $609. The non-inflation adjusted fare for 1995 is $288. The highest inflation adjusted fare is $630 in the year 2000. The highest non-inflation adjusted fare is $370 in 2025. After the spike in the Year 2000 fare, the trend is downwards, with a most steady decrease in 2020 for COVID, and the a small rise since the year 2020.

      
Note: Q3 2025 represents the new OD40% Collection fares

 

Inflation-Adjusted Average Air Fares   

Third Quarter 2025 fare ($370):

Compared to all third quarters: Down 41.3% from the highest 3Q fare, $630 in 2000. 

Compared to all quarters: Down 43.3% from the highest fare for any quarter, $653 in 1Q 1999.
Start of BTS records: Down 42.0% from 1Q 1995 ($637).

Recent high: Down 15.9% from 2Q 2022 ($440). 

Recent low: Up 15.5% from 1Q 2021 ($320).

All-time low: Up 21.3% from the previous low 3Q 2020 ($305).
All-time third quarter low: Up 21.3% from the previous low 3Q 2020 ($305).

Other Revenue: In recent years, airlines have increasingly obtained additional revenue from passenger fees, as well as from other sources. U.S. passenger airlines collected 73.9% of total operating revenue of $138.9 billion from passenger fares during the nine months of 2025, down from 88.5% in 1990. 

US Average Domestic Quarterly Fares, 1Q2022-3Q2025. This horizontal cluster bar chart illustrates the inflation adjusted and non-inflation adjusted fare from 2022 Quarter 1 through 2025 Quarter 3. Each quarter has two horizontal bars, one for the inflation adjusted fare, the other for the non-inflation adjusted fare. The highest inflation adjusted fare between 2022 Quarter 1 and 2025 Quarter 3 occurred in 2022 Quarter 2, that of $440. The lowest non-inflation adjusted fare that occurred between 2022 Quarter 1 and 2025 Quarter 3 was $328 and that occurred in 2022 Quarter 1. The range of inflation adjusted fares from 2022 Quarter 1 to 2025 Quarter 3 is $370-$440 ($370 being 2025 Quarter 3). The range of non-inflation fares that occurred between 2022 Quarter 1 and 2025 Quarter 3 was $328 in 2022 Quarter 1 and $398 in 2024 Quarter 4.

Unadjusted Average Air Fares   

Third Quarter 2025 fare ($370):

Trend: Down 4.0% from 2Q 2025 ($386).
Compared to all third quarters: Down 7.3% from the highest 3Q fare, $399 in 2014.

Compared to all quarters: Down 8.0% from the highest fare for any quarter, $402 in 2Q 2014.

Start of BTS records: Up 24.6% from 1Q 1995 ($297) (compared to 111.9% consumer price increase).

Recent low: Up 42.2% from 1Q 2021 ($260).

Recent high: Down 7.0% from 4Q 2024 ($398).

All-time low: Up 51.2% from 3Q 2020 ($245).
All-time third-quarter low: Up 51.2% from 3Q 2020 ($245).

Fares by Airport

Fares by Airport Group based on Number of Originating Domestic Passengers. This horizontal cluster bar chart illustrates the average fare for each airport group in 2025 Quarter 3. The fare for each airports group appears, from greater than 2 million originating passengers down to between 100,000 and 500,000 passengers. The Top 100 Airports fares are displayed as well as All Airports. The lowest fare appears in the 1.0-1.49 million group and that fare is $356. The highest fare appears in the airport group of greater than 2 million passengers. That fare is $370.

Fares by airport group:

Highest: 11 airports with 2.0 million plus originating passengers ($372)

Lowest: 12 airports with 1.0-1.49 million originating passengers ($356)

Additional data: see Top 100 Airports or All Airports.  

The next press release date for fourth quarter of 2025 is still being determined.  

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