The U.S. Essential Air Service Program and SARS C0V-2, 2019–2020

The Essential Air Service (EAS) Program in the United States has provided government-subsidized air service to many small and rural communities for several decades. A program expectation is that it should provide service in light of prevailing market conditions. This paper assesses EAS during the height of the SARS CoV-2 (CoV2) pandemic from three interrelated perspectives: the program in aggregate, individual communities, and EAS connecting hubs. Using a combination of methods, including complex network analysis, we find that, in aggregate, EAS airports performed better than non-EAS airports in preserving seat capacity. However, there was variation in performance between individual EAS communities in particular and some distinct regional geographic patterns in general. In addition, we found substantial variation in the hubs' performance, which connect EAS to the U.S. National Air System.     

美国铁路管制的由来和发展：历史和思路

回顾并评析1887年以来的美国铁路管制历史，认为美国铁路放权改革经验值得总结。     

The U.S. Airways Group: A post-merger analysis

America West Airlines acquired the bankrupt US Airways on September 27, 2005 to form the US Airways Group, improving its competitive position in the US airline industry. This paper analyzes the post-merger performance of the US Airways Group using airline operating metrics and financial ratios for the period 2005 to 2013. While the airline has still a long way to go to improve its leverage and liquidity ratios, its capital structure and ability to pay its obligations have improved since 2005. Moreover, although the airline is still inefficient in utilizing its assets, the efficiency improvements achieved since the merger have resulted in profits and positive returns to investors. Its share prices have also largely outperformed the S&P 500 and the XAL since the merger, an indication that investors are pleased with how the merger is developing over time. In view of the US Airways Group's improving financial and operating performance, the merger is, essentially, a success.     

Airport security and screening satisfaction: A case study of U.S.

The study analyzes the perception of airport safety by travelers, and how it is related to satisfaction with passenger screening experiences and the perception of public transit safety. It uses the Omnibus Household Survey data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics and estimates a structural equations model. It finds a positive relationship between Screening Satisfaction and Screening Safety and a positive relationship between the perception of Public Transit Safety and Screening Safety. A lack of experience with using public transit is also found to contribute to travelers perceiving lower levels of Screening Safety at airports, and females compared to males perceive a lower level of Screening Safety. Finally, the study finds causality from a traveler’s satisfaction with the screening process to safety perception.     

The geography of air freight: connections to U.S. metropolitan economies

Despite the rapid growth of air freight shipments, much of the existing literature on the geography of air transportation has paid more attention to passenger travel than air freight. The purpose of this paper is to elevate our understanding of air freight by determining which specific variables most influence and shape the geographic distribution of air freight by metropolitan area using stepwise regression analysis. The empirical results suggest a regression model of five independent variables was the most parsimonious solution where the final model accounted for 71.1% of the variation in air freight shipments by metropolitan area (MA). The most important predictor was the traffic shadow effect, where less populated MAs under the traffic shadow of larger MAs tended to generate lower levels of freight. The model also suggested that other key predictors included the employment market share in transportation-shipping-logistics industries, per capita personal income, the number of medical diagnostic and supplier establishments, and above average wages in high technology. Overall, metropolitan markets with diverse and efficient ground support systems, freight forwarders and other transportation services, a more affluent population, an intense agglomeration of medical laboratories and related suppliers, and a well paid skilled workforce engaged in computer systems design and electronic product manufacturing are more likely to ship freight by air.     

Market clustering and performance of U.S. OD markets

We segment the U.S. OD markets into peer groups, using a statistical cluster analysis on OD city-pair data on the basis of market concentration, passenger volume and yield. The results show: 1) that high yield markets have, on average, consistently underperformed the industry in both passenger and revenue growth, whereas low yield markets have led the industry in both areas; and 2) mid-sized ODs have experienced higher average growth and lower volatility than the largest U.S. domestic ODs, which have accounted for the least revenue per passenger as compared to all other market types. Financial portfolio analysis indicates the prospect of long-term decision making based on OD market risk and return rather than the aggregated market share analysis used by airlines today.     

Occupancy,oil prices,and stock returns: Evidence from the U.S. airline industry

This paper examines whether occupancy of seats affects stock returns of airline companies and how this relationship is affected by WTI oil prices. Our approach combines revenues (occupancy) and costs (oil prices) for 33 U.S. airline companies from 1990 to 2019. Using travel capacity utilization data from U.S. carriers at monthly frequency and exploiting fixed-effects regression models, we document a positive relation between occupancy and stock returns, which is attenuated by oil prices. The role of oil becomes larger with asymmetries: the effects of oil prices are higher when moving up than down. Airline stocks always respond by more than the overall stock market.     

Hedging jet fuel price risk: The case of U.S. passenger airlines

Jet fuel accounts for a large portion of passenger airlines' operating costs, and airlines' earnings are susceptible to swings in the price of jet fuel. This study uses daily data over the past two decades to determine the minimum variance hedge ratio for airlines wishing to hedge jet fuel price risk with futures, while also establishing the best cross hedging asset. Airlines hedging with futures would create the most effective hedge by using heating oil futures contracts with a 3-month maturity. We also find that beyond the 3-month veil, increased time to maturity makes heating oil less effective as a cross hedge proxy for jet fuel. However, both in-sample analysis and Monte Carlo simulation results with daily data show that none of the 4 cross hedge proxies, including heating oil, can be considered highly effective.