Summary

The global airline industry suffers constant criticism for its inability to earn a long-term profit, let alone generate economic profit (EP). But again in 2015, the industry discredited this notion not only by reporting global profits, but also by generating a significant $24 billion in EP for the year.

As the leading strategy advisor to the aviation industry and expert on shareholder value analysis, L.E.K. uses economic profit as the relevant measure to gauge a company’s ability to meet the financial requirements of its stakeholders over time. This Aviation Insights Review (AIR) report provides an update on the period from 2011-2015 for the entire global industry.

Last year, the aviation industry generated a very strong and positive EP, continuing the trend that began five years earlier. Moreover, the 41 EP-positive airlines’ five-year cumulative ancillary revenues far exceed their actual EP, further underscoring the critical role that ancillary revenues play in underpinning the industry’s economic viability.

Learn more on airline performance and how success factors into implementing revenue programs in the latest AIR: Global Industry Performance Update.

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