WASHINGTON — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, issued the following statement in response to yesterday's release of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) First-Quarter 2010 report on airfares:

According to BTS data, the average first-quarter domestic one-way fare in 2010 (net of taxes and fees) was $154.91. While airfares are up from 2009, they have returned to 1999 levels, when the average one-way fare was $153.88. Compared to 2008 pre-recession levels, fares grew only 0.4 percent, easily trailing the 2.3 percent jump in the U.S. Consumer Price Index during that same period.

"Travelers certainly appreciate a bargain, and today's airline customers are getting just that – a bargain. They continue to benefit from low airfares, especially considering the rising costs of food, energy and other goods purchased by U.S. consumers," said ATA President and CEO James C. May. "For airlines to add jobs and develop new and improved service, it is critically important that they return to profitability."

May noted that while airfares appear to be stabilizing, the airline industry has been in serious distress throughout the past "lost decade." "This is a positive sign for recovery, not just in the airline sector but across the broader economy as well," May said, further emphasizing that "today's news about increasing fare levels should be kept in perspective; not only are the airlines nowhere near recovering from devastating losses, airfares have not come close to keeping pace with inflation."

Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and nearly 11 million U.S. jobs. On a daily basis, U.S. airlines operate approximately 25,000 flights in 80 countries, using more than 6,000 aircraft to carry an average of two million passengers and 50,000 tons of cargo.

ATA airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For additional industry information, visit www.airlines.org.

* ATA analysis based on average domestic one-way airfares from the DOT O&D survey net of federal/local taxes and fees.

SOURCE Air Transport Association