Airline Revenues Drop38% in October

Airline industry revenues were down 38% in October, according to data that shows major carriers cut fares 19% during the first full month of travel after the terrorist attacks.

The Air Transport Assn., the industry’s Washington-based trade group, reported average one-way fares for business-class travelers fell 15.5% to $221.72, while coach-class tickets declined by 20.3% in price to $108.03.

The combined one-way average was $121.37, compared with $150.24 last year, for most major airlines.

The decline in revenue per passenger was magnified as 23% fewer people flew in October compared with last year. Systemwide, planes were 63% full for the month, down 8 percentage points from a year ago, even after carriers reduced the number of available seats by about 18%.

ABN Amro airline analyst Ray Neidl said the figures were in line with what he had anticipated.

Any savings derived from the capacity reductions were not nearly enough to offset the sharp decline in revenue, analysts and industry officials said.