U.S.

Airline Industry
AEM 4160: Strategic Pricing
Yezy Lim, Vipin Sharma, Diana Wang, Tianyi Zhang

Agenda

Executive Summary
Industry Overview
Pricing Strategies
Recommendations

Executive Summary
Industry Overview
Pricing Strategies
Recommendations

Executive Summary
Why choose the airline industry?
Information Asymmetry
Dynamic pricing makes it hard for consumers to know how prices are set

Low Industry Margins Lead to Creative Pricing

Unique cost structure, high regulation, and demand shocks lead to lower margins

Leverage Available Data

Research trends and apply pricing concepts

Key results
1

Seasonality Q3 highest unique routes

Price per mile vs. Miles 50% decrease (500 to 1500 miles)

Power Law price per mile

Correlation prices in substitutable airports

Mergers increase price / mile

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive Summary
Industry Overview
Pricing Strategies
Recommendations

U.S. Domestic Airline Industry Overview

Hub and Spoke Model

Network Carrier - Provide majority of flights from at
least one hub, where connecting flights are made
Regional Carrier - Provide service from small cities
Hub Airport network carriers uses as a transfer point
to get passengers to their intended destination
Spoke Airports served by regional or contracted
airlines that support a hub with connecting flights
Top Costs and Drivers

Labor Cost (31.3%)

Heavily unionized industry

High wage premiums and long-term union contracts
Non-union competitors emerged after deregulation
Unions challenged by bankruptcies for wage
concessions

Unique Cost Structure

Majority Fixed Costs - aircraft leases or purchases,
fuel, labor cost, leasing space from airports
Minority Variable Costs
Aim to increase passenger load factor (measure of
utilization in seat capacity)
Revenue and Cost Breakdown (2016)
100%

2.90%

90%

2.00%
17.30%

80%

4.30%

70%
19.10%

60%
50%

23.10%

40%
30%

Fuel Cost (17.3%)

INDUSTRY

Crude Oil Prices

Fuel burn efficiency of aircraft (age of aircraft)
Route flown (length of time at cruising altitude)
Hedge with forward contracts
Aircraft Leasing Cost (2.9%)

20%

31.30%

10%
0%
Wages

Other

Profit

Purchases

Depreciation

Marketing

Rent & Utilities

Financial Performance
Revenue has been increasing, and employment has recovered after layoffs during the financial crisis.

180,000

620,000

160,000

610,000

140,000

600,000

120,000

590,000

100,000

580,000

80,000

570,000

60,000

560,000

40,000

550,000

20,000

540,000
530,000

0
2007

2008

2009

2010
Revenue

INDUSTRY

2011

2012

2013

2014

Employment

2015

2016

Employment

Revenue ($ in M)

Revenue and Employment (2007 - 2016)

Financial Performance
Average net profit has been increasing due to lower crude oil prices and increased demand after the
recession.
Average Net Profit in U.S. Airline Industry
25

120

20

Net Profit ($ bn)

10

80

5
0

60

-5
40

-10
-15

20

-20
-25

0
2007

2008

2009

2010
Net Profit ($ bn)

INDUSTRY

2011

2012

2013

Crude Oil ($ / barrel)

2014

2015

Crude Oil ($ / barrel)

100

15

Financial Performance
The U.S. domestic airline industry has experienced growing operating income, but still remains less
profitable than other industries.
Average EBIT in U.S. Airline Industry
35

0.16
0.143
0.14

30
0.118

EBIT ($ bn)

0.1
20
0.068
15

0.08

0.057
0.06

10
0.03

0.034

0.04

0.02
0

0
2010

2011

2012

EBIT ($ bn)

INDUSTRY

2013

EBIT Margin

2014

2015

EBIT Margin

0.12

25

Industry Organization
There are three main types of airlines, with the four Major Carriers dominating about 67% of the total
market share. Major Carriers also offer full service to customers without the extra charges.

Description

Distinguishing
Factors

Market Share
(per airline)

Major
Airline

Full service airlines that usually

have multiple hubs and destinations
to all 50 states. These airlines have
high fares that include baggage,
food, and other costs.

Hubs
Large market share
Higher prices
All-inclusive
pricing

14% - 20%

Low Cost
Carrier

Low cost carriers focus on

providing cheap flights to most
states. These airlines use
homogenous aircrafts and no frills
ticket pricing structure to eliminate
unnecessary costs.

Low cost tickets

Homogenous fleets
No hub and spoke
No frills pricing

1% - 5%

Regional
Airline

Regional Airlines only service a

specific geographic area within the
United States. These airlines are
usually small and sometimes
operate for a major airline.

Centered to region
Can operate as part
of larger airline
Small aircrafts

Less than 2%

Examples

INDUSTRY

Competition
U.S. domestic airline industry has moderate competition over price, routes, and frequency in flights.

Bargaining Power of Buyers - High

Bargaining Power of Suppliers - High

Leisure customers (non-business)

extremely price sensitive
Low customer loyalty
Limited product differentiation
and large number of substitutes
Low switching cost

Suppliers along value chain:

manufacturers (Airbus, Boeing),
aircraft lessors, gas/petr.
wholesalers, maintenance, GDS,
travel agents
Limited number, high profit
margin

Industry
Rivalry
Threat of New Entrants - Low
Capital intensive (aircraft, hangar,
airfield space, labor, etc.)
Incumbents benefit from network
alliances, economies of scale,
proven safety record

INDUSTRY

Threat of Substitutes - Medium

High competition with cars, trains,
buses for regional airlines and
those that primarily travel short
distances
Low substitutability for longdistance travel

Industry Concentration
U.S. domestic airline industry is highly concentrated among four airlines.

U.S. Airline Industry - As of January 2016

Company

Market Share

HHI

CR4

American

0.199

0.040

0.199

Southwest

0.182

0.033

0.182

Delta

0.170

0.029

0.170

United

0.147

0.022

0.147

JetBlue

0.053

0.003

Alaska

0.045

0.002

Spirit

0.026

0.001

SkyWest

0.024

0.001

Frontier

0.019

0.000

Other

0.014

0.000

1296.81

0.70

**Excluding "Other" in HHI calculation

INDUSTRY

Main Competitors
There are four major players in the market, three full service airlines and one low-cost carrier.

American Airlines Group

Inc.

Delta Air Lines Inc.

United Continental
Holdings Inc.

Southwest Airlines Co.

Market share: 19.7%

Market share: 18.4%

Market share: 14.8%

Market Share: 13.7%

Includes: American Airlines,

US Airways, American Eagle

Includes: Delta

Includes: United Airlines,

Continental Airlines

Includes: Southwest Airlines,

AirTran

Relevant Hubs: DFW, LGA,

JFK, LAX

Relevant Hubs: ATL, LGA,

JFK, LAX

Relevant Hubs: ORD, EWR,

SFO, LAX

Relevant Hubs: DAL

Based in Fort Worth, Texas,

American Airlines is the
largest domestic airline by
market share. It has a strong
geographic presence in
southern states with hubs in
Phoenix, Charlotte, Dallas,
Miami, as well as New York
City and Los Angeles.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia,

Delta is one of the worlds
largest airlines. It has a strong
geographic focus in the
Midwest, with hubs in
Cincinnati, Detroit,
Minneapolis, Salt Lake City,
as well as New York City and
Los Angeles.

Based in Chicago, Illinois,

United Airlines became one
of the worlds largest airlines
by revenue after its merger
with Continental. The airline
has a strong presence on the
east coast as well as the west
coast with hubs in New Your
City, Washington D.C., San
Francisco, and Los Angeles

Based in Dallas, Texas,

Southwest Airlines is the
largest low-cost carrier in the
United States. While it is still
considered a low-cost carrier,
it has operations similar to
full service carriers. The
carrier only uses one type of
aircraft and services 41 states.

INDUSTRY

Major Mergers
Each major carrier undergoes one major merger each after 2008, with two small transactions occurring
before then, consolidating the main players in the industry to four major airlines.

Announced: Jan 2001

Completed: Apr 2001
AA buys TWA

2001

2002

2003

Announced: Oct 2008

Completed: Jan 2010
Delta merges with
Northwest

2004

2005

2006

2007

Announced: May 2005

Completed: Sep 2005
American WH
merges with US
Airways

2008

2009

2010

Announced: Dec 2013

Completed: Oct 2015
AA merges with US
Airways

2011

2012

Announced: May 2010

Completed: Oct 2010
(S.O. certificate Nov
2011) UAL merges
with Continental

Announced: Sep 2010

Completed: May 2011
Southwest Airlines
merges with AirTran

INDUSTRY

2013

2014

2015

Determinants that Affect the Industry

Supply Chain and Drivers of the Industry are main determinants of prices that go into downstream
services.
Upstream

Midstream

Downstream

Maintenance and Repair

Engine Parts and
Manufacturing
Aircraft Transportation
Equipment
Airport Operations and
Security

Airline Industry
Labor and Personnel
Operations
Maintenance
Sales and Marketing
Reservations and
Ticketing
Staff Personnel

Gasoline and Petroleum

Economic Drivers:
Crude Oil Prices
Customer
Disposable Income
No. Domestic Trips
No. Incoming
Foreign Trips
Corporate Profit

INDUSTRY

Forwarding Industry
Travel
Agencies

Consumers
Courier Industry

Upstream - Aircraft Fleet Financing

While the majority of aircraft is purchased, leasing has been gaining popularity.

INDUSTRY

Wet Lease

Damp Lease

Lessor provides: aircraft, complete crew,

maintenance, and insurance

Lessor provides: aircraft, maintenance and

insurance

~ Charter plane

No crew

Dry Lease

Sale and Lease Back

Lessor provides: only aircraft

No crew, maintenance, or insurance

Airlines purchase planes in bulk at a steep

discount, sell to lessor at market price, and
lease it back

Operating Lease Short-term lease (2-7

yr), doesnt appear on balance sheet

Used by LCCs as profitable leasing

model

Financing / Capital Lease Lease to

buy; appears on balance sheet

Reduce: depreciation expense, risk of

resale, and debt involved in airplane
purchases

Downstream - Ticket Distribution Channel

More than 50% of tickets are sold indirectly through reservation systems, which charge airlines high
commissions.

GDS global distribution system (> 50% all

bookings)
Created by airlines to keep track of flight
schedules, availability, prices
Used to be owned by airlines, but have become
independent
Automated reservation process for travel
agents to help sell tickets
Used for airlines to sell tickets using thirdparty websites
High cost for airlines (~$12/ticket)

Airline

Indirect Distribution - GDS

(global distribution systems)

Traditional Travel
Agents

Online Travel
Agents

Customer

INDUSTRY

Direct
Distribution Airline Website

Government Regulation and Events Timeline

1978 Airline Deregulation Act is the most significant government regulation.

1958: Federal
Aviation Agency
(FAA) Created

1978: Airline
Deregulation Act

1980s:
Bankruptcies and
consolidations;
begin hub and spoke
model

INDUSTRY

Early 1990s: 67%

increase in regional
airline accidents

2001: Aviation and

Transportation
Safety Act creates
TSA

1995: One level of

Safety
FAA governs
regional airlines
under same safety
regulations as major
airlines

2009: Airline
Safety and Pilot
Training
Improvement Act

2005: US Airways,
United, Delta, and
Northwest all file
for bankruptcy by
2005

Government Regulation
Prior to deregulation, the U.S. domestic airline industry was less competitive, served fewer passengers,
and yielded higher returns.

1978 Airline Deregulation Act dissolved the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which regulated U.S. airlines on where
they could fly and fares
Before

After

Fares, flight schedules, and routes regulated by

government
CAB guaranteed airlines a 12% return on flights that
were 55% full
CAB approved few applications for new routes
Airlines competed on service, alone
Flying reserved for higher-class

Airline safety regulated by government

Low-cost carriers (LCCs) became popular business
model
Airlines no longer limited to fly in certain regions
Air travel tripled in 30 years
Fares decreased via competitive market forces
Consolidation and big four Delta, United,
American, and Southwest
Almost all major airlines have filed for bankruptcies
or been liquidated

INDUSTRY

Executive Summary
Industry Overview
Pricing Strategies
Recommendations

Pricing Strategies 2nd Degree Price Discrimination

Second degree price discrimination - each customer pays her own price, depending on characteristics of
purchase.

Strategy

Description

Example

Producing different models of the same

product, and then charging different prices
for each model

Southwest (Goldilocks Principle)

First class: $574
Business class: $545
Economy class: $369

Dynamic Pricing

Pricing items at a level determined by a

particular customer's perceived ability to
pay

Seasonality
Mileage programs
Bulk quantity discounts

Flight Distance

Depending on the distance of the travel,

airlines charge different price/mile

$231 from JFK to BOS

$579 from JFK to LAX

Versioning

PRICING STRATEGIES

Pricing Strategies 3rd Degree Price Discrimination

Third degree price discrimination - charging a different price to different groups of consumers.

Strategy

Description

Origin

Pricing based on the location, demographic,

and competition of the origin of the flight

Flying out of a city with a higher

annual income might be more
expensive than flying out of a town
with a lower annual income

Destination

Pricing based on the location, demographic,

and competition of the destination of the
flight

Flying into a city with high tourism

rate might be more expensive than
flying into a suburb

PRICING STRATEGIES

Example

Pricing Strategies Other

The listed strategies are prevalent in the airline industry but not explained further in our presentation.
Strategy

Description

Advanced Booking

Discriminating between high-fare and lowfare customers and their target buying times
by allowing customers to book in advance

Overbooking

Overbooking by the average percentage of

no-shows per flight to maximize flight
utilization and offset high fixed costs

Predatory Pricing

Pricing below marginal cost to eliminate a

competitor and typically occurs when
airlines compete for low-fare markets

Example
JFK to BOS
$233 1 day in advance
$78 42 days in advance
$88 126 days in advance
Southwest
In fact, the majority of overbooked flights
depart with empty seats because the formula
we use to derive our booking levels is
carefully applied and quite conservative.

New York Times, 1999

Bundling

PRICING STRATEGIES

Selling set of goods or services for a lower

price than they would charge if the customer
bought all of them separately

The Federal Government accused American

Airlines Thursday of driving smaller
competitors out of one of its most important
markets by illegally slashing ticket prices
below cost and increasing flights sharply.

Hotel + Flight
Seat + beverages, food, services

Additional Factors Affecting Pricing

Strategies are prevalent in the airline industry and explained further in our presentation.

Factor

Description

Example

Increasing or decreasing ticket prices after

two airline companies merged into one
company

American Airlines and U.S. Airways

merged and American Airlines could
have changed its ticket prices

Number of Nearby Airports

Pricing influenced by the number of airports

located close to one another

NYC has three large airports (JFK,

EWR, LGA) that travelers can
choose among while LA only has
one large airport (LAX)

Number of Competing
Airlines in a Given Airport

Pricing influenced by the number of airlines

flying into and out of a certain airport and
whether a given airport is a hub for an
airline

Bush International Airport is a

fortress hub for United Airlines,
responsible for 80% of its traffic

Mergers

PRICING STRATEGIES

Dataset Introduction
Bureau of Transportation Statistics Flight Origin and Destination Survey. Much of the analysis focuses
on three years: 2010, 2011 and 2015.
10% Sample of U.S. Domestic Flight Tickets
~3M+ Data Points per Quarter

Important Data Fields

1
2

2.5

Total Data points

Round Trips

PRICING STRATEGIES

One-way

Passengers

Column1

1.

Unique Itinerary ID

2.

Number of Passengers

3.

Price per mile

4.

Miles flown

5.

Airline

Number of Unique Routes Over Time

The third quarter sees the most number of unique flights, mostly attributable to summer travelers.
2011

2010
52000

50000

50075

47963
50000

48000

46479

48202

45848

48000

46000

46002
44000

43194

46000
44000

42000

42000

40000

Routes

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q1

Q4

2015
52000

50699
48985

50000

47124

48000
46000

44828

45761

44000
42000
Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Quarter
PRICING STRATEGIES

Q2

Q3

Q4

Five Most Popular Routes

The remaining data analysis will focus on routes that are consistently in the top five routes for each
quarter: SFO to LAX, LAX to SFO, LAX to JFK, and JFK to LAX.

Top Five Routes Over Time

60000
LGA to FLL

Number of Passengers

50000

JFK to LGA
LGA to JFK

40000

SFO to JFK
JFK to SFO

30000

LAS to SFO
LAS to LAX

20000

LAX to JFK
JFK to LAX

10000

LAX to SFO
SFO to LAX

0
2008Q3 2010Q1 2010Q2 2010Q3 2010Q4 2011Q1 2011Q2 2011Q3 2011Q4 2013Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2 2015Q3 2015Q4

Quarter

PRICING STRATEGIES

Three Representative Routes

Much of our data analysis will focus on three representative routes based on their flight frequencies to
gain a better insight on the overall airline industrys pricing strategies.

1st most popular route

SFO (San Francisco, CA) to LAX (Los Angeles, CA)
11,028 flights

100th most popular route

ORD (Chicago, IL) to DIA (Denver, CO)
2,983 flights

1,000th most popular route

MCO (Orlando, FL) to MCI (Kansas City, MO)
740 flights

PRICING STRATEGIES

Economies of Scale Factor Into Airline Pricing

Price per mile decreases, linearly after 1,100 miles, as the miles flown increase. However, most of the
customers do not benefit from the sharp decline.

Weighted Average Price per mile (in cents)

Weighted Average Price per mile

40.00
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
y = -1.511x + 23.045
R = 0.5252

15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
-1

Average Miles (in thousands)

Weighted Average Price per mile (in cents)
[Bubble indicates number of passengers]

PRICING STRATEGIES

11

13

Dynamic Pricing: Price Dispersion By Miles (2015)

There is a strong indication of power rule in airline price per miles (50K random samples per airline).

PRICING STRATEGIES

Dynamic Pricing: Seasonality (SFO to LAX)

Delta has consistently charged the lowest price per mile, while American and United charge the highest;
most airlines have been decreasing price toward Q4, while average prices have increased since 2010.

Average Price / Mile (2010)

Average Price / Mile (2015)

Average Price / Mile (2011)

0.5

Average price / mile

0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Quarter
AA

PRICING STRATEGIES

UA

WN

DL

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Effect of Mergers on Price

Price/mile increased after the completion of all four major mergers.

Major Mergers:
American Airlines & U.S. Airways American Airlines
Southwest & AirTran Southwest
Delta & Northwest Delta
United & Continental United Airlines

Price/mile Before and After Mergers

Company

Announcement

price/mile

Completion

price/mile

American

2013, Q4

0.236

2015, Q4

0.256

Southwest

2010, Q3

0.182

2011, Q2

0.189

Delta

2008, Q3

0.223

2010, Q1

0.255

United

2010, Q2

0.227

2011, Q4

0.236

PRICING STRATEGIES

Effect of Origin and Destination on Price

Despite the same number of miles flown, flying from Los Angeles to New York is almost always more
expensive than flying from New York to Los Angeles.

Average Ticket Prices in 2010

Average Ticket Prices in 2011

Average Ticket Prices in 2015

620

Prices (dollars)

600
580
560
540
520
500
480
460
Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Quarter
JFK to LAX

PRICING STRATEGIES

LAX to JFK

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Correlation Between Nearby Airports

There is positive correlation between ticket prices to Los Angeles (LAX) from all pair combinations of
NY airports. Having another nearby airport affected airlines average ticket prices.
JFK vs. LGA (2010, 2011, 2015)

LGA vs. EWR (2010, 2011, 2015)

580

530
480
R = 0.3545

430
380

JFK Prices (dollars)

LGA Prices (dollars)

580

530
480
R = 0.1992
430
380
330

330
400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580 600

330

350

LGA Prices (dollars)

EWR Prices (dollars)

JFK vs. EWR (2010, 2011, 2015)

JFK Prices (dollars)

580
530
R = 0.0616
480
430
380
330
400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580 600
EWR Prices (dollars)

PRICING STRATEGIES

370

Correlation Coefficient:
(EWR, JFK): 0.248
(JFK, LGA): 0.446
(EWR, LGA): 0.595

390

Effect of Hubs on Price

IAH is the main hub for United Airlines and HOU is a low-cost carrier airport located 29 miles away.
The average ticket price from a hub airport is higher than the average ticket price from a smaller airport.

Prices (dollars)

Average Flight Tickets to LAX,

2010

Average Flight Tickets to LAX,

2011

Average Flight Tickets to LAX,

2015

Q1

Q1

500
475
450
425
400
375
350
325
300
275
250
225
200
Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q2

Q3

Q4

Quarter
HOU

PRICING STRATEGIES

IAH

Q2

Q3

Q4

Effect of Hubs on Price

There is more variance in hub airports than smaller airports. Firms responsiveness to price dispersion
decreases when their market share increases.

Variance of Flight Tickets to LAX,

2010

Variance of Flight Tickets to LAX,

2011

Variance of Flight Tickets to LAX,

2015

120000

Prices (dollars)

100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Quarter
HOU

PRICING STRATEGIES

IAH

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Executive Summary
Industry Overview
Pricing Strategies
Recommendations

Investment Recommendation
International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects the industry to double net profit for 2016, due to
cheap oil and increased demand for air travel; we recommend investing in fast growth carriers.
Why Invest?

Favorable crude oil prices

Improve major carriers competitiveness

with LCCs and continue to increase profit
margins
May impact customer satisfaction negatively

Low oil prices continue to benefit bottom

line
Free up capital for investments in growth

Consolidation among carriers

Alaskan (ALK) / Virgin (VA) merger to
increase ALK West Coast penetration and
scale
Two types of mergers: (1) consolidate
overlapping routes, (2) add geographic
scope
Likely to continue at a modest pace in
fragmented regions of the U.S.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Fare unbundling / no-frills pricing

Subject to demand shocks

Passenger demand expected to increase in
2016 from improving U.S. economy
However, theatened by headline risk from
Zika virus, terrorist attacks, etc.

Pricing Strategy Recommendations

We concluded on four main Pricing Recommendations listed below.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Test lower prices at hub airports

1.6% decrease in passengers from IAH (Bush). Concurrently HOU
(Hobby), a cheaper hub 29 miles away, saw an 8.6% increase.

LCCs improve customer loyalty programs

Partner with credit card companies to accumulate miles for mileage
programs.

Offer bulk discounts and packages

Offer discounts for several purchases done at once, especially for
tourist destinations, especially on third-party websites.

Explore subscription services

Explore profitability of subscription services similar to OneGo, they
might become key differentiators.

Questions?

Sources
In Order of Presentation:
Title Image:
https://tau0.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/terrell_flyin_0912_02.jpg
Industry and Market Share:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/law-changed-airline-industry-beyond-recognition-1978
http://seekingalpha.com/article/644991-in-depth-drilldown-of-the-airline-industry-part-1?page=2
http://www.statista.com/statistics/250577/domestic-market-share-of-leading-us-airlines/
IBIS World Domestic Airlines in U.S.:
http://clients1.ibisworld.com.proxy.library.cornell.edu/reports/us/industry/default.aspx?entid=1125
Aircraft Leasing:
http://www.globalplanesearch.com/aviation_library/leasing_definition.htm
More on Aircraft Leasing:
https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-airplane-leasing-business-work-Why-do-airlines-buy-the-planes-then-sell-them-to-a-leasing-company-and-then-lease-it-back
Product / ticket distribution:
http://pwc.blogs.com/industry_perspectives/2015/09/airline-ticket-distribution-how-airlines-might-reduce-global-distribution-system-gds-fees-by-encoura.html
Net Profit, EBIT, and EBIT Margin Graphs:
http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/Documents/economics/Central-forecast-end-year-2015-tables.pdf
Deregulation:
http://www.onthecommons.org/magazine/airline-deregulation-triumph-ideology-over-evidence
http://aviationweek.com/blog/law-changed-airline-industry-beyond-recognition-1978
Government regulation timeline:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/flyingcheap/etc/cronfaa.html
GDS:
http://www.economist.com/node/21560866
Air Carrier Summary Data:
http://www.transtats.bts.gov/databases.asp?Mode_ID=1&Mode_Desc=Aviation&Subject_ID2=0
IAH vs. HOU Prices:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904009304576528580064496902
Airlines at Hobby Airport:
http://www.skyscanner.com/flights-to/hou/airlines-that-fly-to-houston-hobby-airport.html
Airlines at IAH Airport:
http://www.skyscanner.com/flights-to/iah/airlines-that-fly-to-houston-george-bush-intercntl.-airport.html
Priceline Ticket Samples:
https://www.priceline.com/home/
Southwest Ticket Samples:
https://www.southwest.com/