Pricing data was collected in 42 markets for all nonstop flights departing between September 2, 2010 and September 22, 2010. A booking horizon of four weeks was collected for each departure date. This section describes the fields available for analysis, the process used to select the markets included in the database, and basic descriptive statistics.
A.3.1. Data Fields
Round-trip prices for nonstop flights were obtained from a major online travel agency (which we refer to as OTA). These round-trip prices represent the lowest price (or fare) available for a particular outbound flight for a trip that involves a one-night stay; the inbound flight that would be required to obtain this lowest fare is not known. Equivalent round-trip prices for nonstop flights were obtained from one low cost carrier’s website (which we refer to as LCC1). The “equivalent round-trip price” is obtained by multiplying LCC1’s one-way fare by two and is comparable to the “round-trip price” obtained for other carriers through the OTA.
There are two databases: one for the OTA prices and one for LCC1 prices. Descriptions of the fields available in these databases are provided in Table A.1, and a list of airport codes are provided in Table A.2. Both databases include the same variables. The majority of the fields are self-explanatory; however, those related to affiliate relationships merit further discussion.
Table A.1: Fields Available in Dataset
Name
|
Definition
|
Market
|
Indicates the origin and destination airports associated with the nonstop flight. For example, BOSLAX represents a flight that originated at Logan International Airport in Boston and landed at the Los Angeles International Airport. Table A.2 provides a list of airport codes.
|
Price
|
For the OTA dataset this is the round-trip price, excluding taxes.
For the LCC1 dataset this is the one-way price, excluding taxes, multiplied by two.
|
FlightNumber
|
Flight number assigned by airline.
|
DepartureTime
|
Scheduled departure time (In military hours and based on the local time at departure airport).
|
DepartureTime_hr
|
Hour of scheduled departure time (In military hours and based on the local time at departure airport).
|
DepartureTime_min
|
Minutes past the hour of scheduled departure time (based on the local time at departure airport).
|
CaptureDate
|
Date the pricing query was made.
|
DepartureDate
|
Departure date (based on the local time at departure airport).
|
DFD
|
Number of days from flight departure that the query was made (defined as departuredate minus capturedate).
|
MarketingAirline
|
Code associated with the marketing airline that is selling a ticket for the flight.
|
OperatingAirline
|
Code associated with the airline that operates the flight.
|
Affiliate
|
Value of 1 indicates a flight in which an affiliate carrier operates on behalf of a parent airline. Only the parent airline markets the flight.
|
Dcapturedate
|
Day of capture date.
|
Mcapturedate
|
Month of capture date.
|
Ddeparturedate
|
Day of departure date.
|
Mdeparturedate
|
Month of departure date.
|
Ddow
|
Departure day of week, 1=Sunday, … 7=Saturday
|
Cdow
|
Capture day of week, 1=Sunday, … 7=Saturday
|
Airlines can own other airlines or establish operating contracts with regional airlines. These wholly-owned subsidiaries and regional (or affiliate) carriers operate flights on behalf of the parent airline. For example, American Eagle is a wholly-owned subsidiary that operates flights on behalf of American Airlines, and SkyWest is a regional carrier that operates flights on behalf of Alaska and Delta. In an affiliate relationship, the parent airline is the one that markets (or sells seats on) that flight whereas the affiliate carrier is the one that operates the flight. A flight that is operated by an affiliate carrier is identified in the data when the Affiliate variable is set equal to one. The Marketing Airline will be populated with a code for the parent airline and the Operating Airline will be populated with a code for the affiliate partner. Lists of parent and affiliate airline codes are listed in Tables A.3 and A.4 (note that actual airline codes have been masked). An example is given in Table A.5, which gives a sample of observations from the OTA data (first four rows) and LCC1 data (last four rows). The unit of observation in the databases is an outbound flight that is uniquely identified by the market, capture date, departure date, marketing airline, and flight number. The third row of Table A.5 shows that flight number 3131 is marketed by parent airline M4 and operated by affiliate airline A8.
Table A.2: Airport Codes and Names
Airport Code
|
Name of Airport, City and State
|
ATL
|
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia
|
AUS
|
Austin Bergstrom International Airport, Austin, Texas
|
BOS
|
Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts
|
BUF
|
Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Buffalo, New York
|
BWI
|
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Baltimore, Maryland
|
CAK
|
Akron Canton Airport, Green, Ohio
|
DEN
|
Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado
|
FLL
|
Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
|
IAD
|
Washington Dulles International Airport, Washington D.C.
|
ICT
|
Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, Wichita, Kansas
|
IND
|
Indianapolis International Airport, Indianapolis, Indiana
|
JAX
|
Jacksonville Airport, Jacksonville, Florida
|
JFK
|
John F. Kennedy International, New York City, New York
|
LAS
|
McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada
|
LAX
|
Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California
|
LGA
|
La Guardia Airport, New York City, New York
|
MCO
|
Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida
|
MDW
|
Chicago Midway International Airport, Chicago, Illinois
|
OAK
|
Oakland International, Oakland, California
|
ORD
|
Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois
|
PBI
|
Palm Beach International Airport, Palm Beach, Florida
|
PDX
|
Portland International Airport, Portland, Oregon
|
PHL
|
Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
PIT
|
Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
|
ROC
|
Greater Rochester International Airport, Rochester, New York
|
SAN
|
San Diego International Airport, San Diego, California
|
SEA
|
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington
|
SFO
|
San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California
|
SNA
|
John Wayne Airport, Orange County, Santa Ana, California
|
SYR
|
Syracuse Hancock International Airport, Syracuse, New York
|
Table A.3: List of Parent Airline Codes
Airline Code
|
Pricing Structure
|
Type
Carrier
|
L1
|
One-way
|
LCC
|
L2
|
One-way
|
LCC
|
L3
|
One-way
|
LCC
|
L4
|
One-way
|
LCC
|
L5
|
One-way
|
LCC
|
M1
|
Round-trip
|
Major
|
M2
|
Round-trip
|
Major
|
M3
|
One-way
|
Major
|
M4
|
One-way
|
Major
|
M5
|
Round-trip
|
Major
|
Table A.4: List of Affiliate Airline Codes
Affiliate
Airline Code
|
Associated
Parent Airline
Codes
|
A1
|
M1
|
A2
|
M1, M3
|
A3
|
M1
|
A4
|
M2
|
A5
|
M1
|
A6
|
M5
|
A7
|
M1
|
A8
|
M4
|
A9
|
M1
|
A10
|
M1
|
A11
|
M4
|
Table A.5: Sample Observations
Market
|
Price
|
Flight Number
|
Departure Time
|
Capture Date
|
Departure Date
|
DFD
|
Marketing Airline
|
Operating Airline
|
Affiliate
|
PHLMCO
|
$249
|
863
|
18:15
|
2010-09-01
|
2010-09-04
|
3
|
M4
|
M4
|
0
|
PHLMCO
|
$220
|
629
|
18:30
|
2010-09-01
|
2010-09-04
|
3
|
L2
|
L2
|
0
|
PHLMCO
|
$249
|
3131
|
20:35
|
2010-09-01
|
2010-09-04
|
3
|
M4
|
A8
|
1
|
PHLMCO
|
$220
|
627
|
20:40
|
2010-09-01
|
2010-09-04
|
3
|
L2
|
L2
|
0
|
PHLMCO
|
$318
|
364
|
10:20
|
2010-09-01
|
2010-09-04
|
3
|
L1
|
L1
|
0
|
PHLMCO
|
$278
|
2061
|
15:30
|
2010-09-01
|
2010-09-04
|
3
|
L1
|
L1
|
0
|
PHLMCO
|
$278
|
2609
|
8:25
|
2010-09-01
|
2010-09-04
|
3
|
L1
|
L1
|
0
|
PHLMCO
|
$318
|
3408
|
12:55
|
2010-09-01
|
2010-09-04
|
3
|
L1
|
L1
|
0
|
A.3.2. Market Selection and Descriptive Statistics
Data was collected for a sample of U.S. markets in which at least one low cost carrier (LCC) provided daily nonstop service. A stratified sample was used to select a minimum of four markets for each competitive structure, shown in Table A.6. However, some competition structures appeared less than four times in the U.S. network, and thus less than four markets were included for these cases. The markets included in the dataset are described in Table A.6, along with the market structure (number of low cost and major carriers offering nonstop flights) and median prices for each competitor.
The database of OTA prices contains a total of 186,268 unique prices that correspond to a specific market, search date, departure date, marketing airline, and nonstop flight number. The database of LCC1 prices contains a total of 42,434 unique prices. These prices can be used for a range of different analyses. Figure A.1 shows an example of median lowest fares that each carrier offered for each unique departure date and search date. The median prices are for one market (BOSLAX) across the 28 day booking horizon. The variation in fares across the booking horizon highlights one of the key strengths of the database, namely the ability to investigate the evolution of fares across the booking horizon.
Table A.6: Median Prices, by Market and Competition Structure
Market Structure
|
Market
|
Median Ticket Price (U.S. Dollars)
|
Low Cost Carriers
|
Network Carriers
|
L1
|
L2
|
L3
|
L4
|
L5
|
M1
|
M2
|
M4
|
M3
|
M5
|
1 LCC, 0 Major
|
BWILAS
|
$458
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
BWIMDW
|
$254
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
JFKOAK
|
-
|
-
|
$390
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
JFKPBI
|
-
|
-
|
$232
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
LGACAK
|
-
|
$178
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
SYRMCO
|
-
|
-
|
$222
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1 LCC, 1 Major
|
ATLICT
|
-
|
$153
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$225
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
BOSIAD
|
-
|
-
|
$118
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$174
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
BOSMCO
|
-
|
-
|
$217
|
-
|
-
|
$212
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
IADSFO
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$455
|
-
|
-
|
$433
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
JFKFLL
|
-
|
-
|
$212
|
-
|
-
|
$176
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
JFKPDX
|
-
|
-
|
$476
|
-
|
-
|
$467
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
LGAIND
|
-
|
$161
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$190
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
SNASFO
|
$202
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$202
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1 LCC, 2 Major
|
IADLAX
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$388
|
-
|
-
|
$313
|
-
|
-
|
$278
|
JFKORD
|
-
|
-
|
$235
|
-
|
-
|
$255
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$225
|
LGAATL
|
-
|
$228
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$272
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$258
|
SEALAX
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$224
|
-
|
-
|
$269
|
-
|
$244
|
-
|
SEASFO
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$220
|
-
|
-
|
$203
|
-
|
$180
|
-
|
1 LCC, 4 Major
|
LASLAX
|
$194
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$194
|
$175
|
$175
|
-
|
$175
|
2 LCC, 0 Major
|
BWIJAX
|
$228
|
$148
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
BWIMCO
|
$190
|
$168
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
FLLAUS
|
$280
|
-
|
$218
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
FLLSFO
|
-
|
-
|
$268
|
$292
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
MCOAUS
|
$218
|
-
|
$211
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
PITMCO
|
$226
|
$178
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
ROCMCO
|
-
|
$178
|
$198
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
2 LCC, 1 Major
|
BOSDEN
|
$288
|
-
|
$308
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$478
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
FLLLAX
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$271
|
$290
|
$248
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
IADMCO
|
-
|
$163
|
$180
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$173
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
LGAFLL
|
-
|
-
|
$206
|
-
|
$169
|
$181
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
PHLMCO
|
$220
|
$162
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$162
|
-
|
-
|
SANSFO
|
$154
|
-
|
-
|
$132
|
-
|
-
|
$116
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
2 LCC, 2 Major
|
BOSLAX
|
-
|
-
|
$308
|
$298
|
-
|
-
|
$298
|
-
|
-
|
$298
|
BOSSFO
|
-
|
-
|
$378
|
$375
|
-
|
-
|
$369
|
-
|
-
|
$345
|
JFKLAS
|
-
|
-
|
$417
|
$496
|
-
|
$382
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$370
|
LASSFO
|
$178
|
-
|
-
|
$210
|
-
|
-
|
$188
|
$184
|
-
|
-
|
2 LCC, 3 Major
|
JFKLAX
|
-
|
-
|
$358
|
$390
|
-
|
$338
|
$380
|
-
|
-
|
$380
|
JFKSFO
|
-
|
-
|
$460
|
$457
|
-
|
$363
|
$447
|
-
|
-
|
$408
|
2 LCC, 4 Major
|
LAXSFO
|
$118
|
-
|
-
|
$128
|
-
|
$114
|
$108
|
-
|
$156
|
$108
|
3 LCC, 0 Major
|
BOSBWI
|
$124
|
$78
|
$101
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
BUFMCO
|
$210
|
$210
|
$219
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Figure A.1: Example of a Market’s Median Lowest Prices, by Days from Flight Departure and Airline
Share with your friends: |
