News & Research

IdeaWorksCompany, the foremost consultant on ancillary revenue, and CarTrawler, the leading provider of online car rental distribution systems, project airline ancillary revenue will drop to $58.2 billion worldwide in 2020, compared to $109.5 billion in 2019.  The CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue represents a 47% decrease, dropping slightly below the $59.2 billion amount for 2015.  Earlier this year, CarTrawler and IdeaWorksCompany reported the ancillary revenue disclosed by 81 airlines for 2019.  These statistics were applied to a larger list of 134 airlines to provide a truly global projection of ancillary revenue activity by the world’s airlines for 2020. This marks the eleventh year IdeaWorksCompany has prepared a projection of ancillary revenue activity.

Click here to download the graphic from page one of the press release.
Click here to download the graphic from page two of the press release.

The 2020 Datalex Big Book of Airline Data is a snapshot in time and is based on the 2019 reporting period.  The 77-page document, sponsored by Datalex, is a significant undertaking with a review of nearly 300 airlines to find traffic, revenue, and membership numbers for inclusion in the report. The information is presented in multiple formats to create user-friendly access to the data.  The first part of the Big Book contains passenger traffic results for 208 airlines. The second part of the report contains revenue results for 180 airlines. The final section provides membership data disclosed by 42 frequent flyer programs.

CarTrawler-sponsored research determines face masks required by almost all airlines, with widespread adoption of electrostatic disinfection, temperature checks, and distribution of hand sanitizer.  The world’s leading airlines are actively engaged in the process of boosting traveler confidence during the pandemic. The table (also available as a graphic) in this release displays the results of a review of 25 leading network airlines and low cost carriers grouped by global region.

Note: An earlier version of the release and graphic omitted Delta’s blocking of middle seats.

Click here to download JPG file graphic of the table in the press release.

CarTrawler-sponsored report encourages airlines to innovate and offers a 7-point checklist for building revenue during the pandemic and period of recovery. The essential elements of baggage policies and change fees had simple beginnings, but over time the quest for more revenue has created a structure poorly equipped for the COVID-19 era. In addition, the pandemic requires new sensitivity when developing revenue-producing plans. This report describes how this can occur for airlines in the categories of change fees, baggage policies, and the overall process of boosting airline revenue.

This CarTrawler-sponsored report offers recovery advice for the travel industry with examples from Emirates, Etihad, Hilton, Korean Air, United, and Xiamen Airlines.  This report is written to help those working at airlines and in the travel industry sort through the issue of traveler confidence and how it can be restored. Individual airlines, hotels, vacation rentals, car hire, airport transfers, and sightseeing companies are already making decisions to ensure the safety of their customers, which will also increase traveler confidence in our industry.

Flight Plan 2020:  Creating Traveler Confidence in the Time of COVID was released today as a free 17-page report sponsored by CarTrawler and offers recovery advice for the travel industry with examples from Emirates, Etihad, Hilton, Korean Air, United, and Xiamen Airlines. The report is written to help those working at airlines and in the travel industry sort through the issue of traveler confidence and how it can be restored. Individual airlines, hotels, vacation rentals, car hire, airport transfers, and sightseeing companies are already making decisions to ensure the safety of their customers, which will also increase traveler confidence in our industry.

The pandemic will affect the airline business for years to come, but travel will return because it is an essential element of being human. There are no “opportunities” during this time of trial but we can learn from past economic challenges and global events that have tested the travel industry. This report anticipates the changes that will occur as consumers return to airlines, hotels, and car hire companies.

CarTrawler-sponsored report focuses on post-virus consumer behavior and how airlines can best serve a travel economy in recovery.  This report anticipates the changes that will occur as consumers return to airlines, hotels, and car hire companies.  This report anticipates the changes that will occur as consumers return to airlines, hotels, and car hire companies.  Here are some of the findings from the report:

• Southwest Airlines is among the most profitable airlines in the world, and has never charged change or cancellation fees. Making profits without these fees is possible.
• Weaker airlines will merge with others or simply disappear. Some hotels will close and be repurposed for other uses, or will sit empty waiting for travel to recover.
• “Safer close to home” will most certainly define the near-term psychology of leisure travel. Travel by automobile, passenger rail, and shorter flights will see the first indication of renewed demand, and this may occur in August 2020.
• Travelers will equate “rural and outdoors” with good health, and “crowds and public spaces” with higher risk.
• Protection against disease will become an expectation in the same manner that protection from terrorism has been built into the travel system.

Jay Sorensen’s letter to the global airline community:  for those at the ticket counter, at the gate, on the plane, on the ramp, in the hangar, and at corporate headquarters.

The birthplace of airline a la carte revenue—Europe—continues to lead the globe in annual growth for this key sales component. And the world’s fastest-growing air travel market, Asia, is not far behind.  IdeaWorksCompany, the foremost consultancy on airline ancillary revenues, and CarTrawler, the leading technology platform providing end to end transport solutions for online businesses, recently estimated airline a la carte revenue at $75.6 billion worldwide for 2019.  The CarTrawler Global Statistics of a la Carte Revenue adds regional details and 2015 comparisons to the figures from the earlier November 2019 release.