IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v175y2020ics0921800919308493.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Flying More Efficiently: Joint Impacts of Fuel Prices, Capital Costs and Fleet Size on Airline Fleet Fuel Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Csereklyei, Zsuzsanna
  • Stern, David I.

Abstract

We investigate the factors that affect airlines' choice of fleet fuel economy using aircraft-level data for 1267 airlines in 174 countries. Larger and newer aircraft are usually more fuel-efficient. Controlling for the effect of aircraft size and age, we find that the technically achievable fleet fuel economy improves with the size of airlines and the price of fuel and worsens with higher capital costs. The elasticity of fuel economy with respect to the price of fuel is between −0.07 and −0.13. We find evidence for regional differences in fleet fuel economy that are attributable to the adoption of distinct groups of technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Csereklyei, Zsuzsanna & Stern, David I., 2020. "Flying More Efficiently: Joint Impacts of Fuel Prices, Capital Costs and Fleet Size on Airline Fleet Fuel Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:175:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919308493
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106714
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919308493
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106714?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alessandro Gavazza, 2011. "Leasing and Secondary Markets: Theory and Evidence from Commercial Aircraft," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(2), pages 325-377.
    2. Anger, Annela & Köhler, Jonathan, 2010. "Including aviation emissions in the EU ETS: Much ado about nothing? A review," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 38-46, January.
    3. Jerry Hausman, 2001. "Mismeasured Variables in Econometric Analysis: Problems from the Right and Problems from the Left," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 57-67, Fall.
    4. Rosskopf, Michael & Lehner, Stephan & Gollnick, Volker, 2014. "Economic–environmental trade-offs in long-term airline fleet planning," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 109-115.
    5. Michael Keen & Jon Strand, 2007. "Indirect Taxes on International Aviation," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 28(1), pages 1-41, March.
    6. Burke, Paul J., 2013. "The national-level energy ladder and its carbon implications," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 484-503, August.
    7. Inglada, Vicente & Rey, Belen & Rodri­guez-Alvarez, Ana & Coto-Millan, Pablo, 2006. "Liberalisation and efficiency in international air transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 95-105, February.
    8. Hunt Allcott & Nathan Wozny, 2014. "Gasoline Prices, Fuel Economy, and the Energy Paradox," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(5), pages 779-795, December.
    9. Babikian, Raffi & Lukachko, Stephen P. & Waitz, Ian A., 2002. "The historical fuel efficiency characteristics of regional aircraft from technological, operational, and cost perspectives," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 8(6), pages 389-400.
    10. Shanjun Li & Christopher Timmins & Roger H. von Haefen, 2009. "How Do Gasoline Prices Affect Fleet Fuel Economy?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 113-137, August.
    11. Tim Coelli & Sergio Perelman & Elliot Romano, 1999. "Accounting for Environmental Influences in Stochastic Frontier Models: With Application to International Airlines," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 251-273, June.
    12. Steven Berry & Panle Jia, 2010. "Tracing the Woes: An Empirical Analysis of the Airline Industry," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 1-43, August.
    13. Elena Verdolini & Marzio Galeotti, 2009. "At Home and Abroad: An Empirical Analysis of Innovation and Diffusion in Energy-Efficient Technologies," Working Papers 2009.123, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    14. Oum, Tae Hoon & Yu, Chunyan, 1998. "Cost competitiveness of major airlines: an international comparison," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 407-422, August.
    15. Henrich R. Greve & Marc-David L. Seidel, 2015. "The thin red line between success and failure: Path dependence in the diffusion of innovative production technologies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 475-496, April.
    16. Geroski, P. A., 2000. "Models of technology diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 603-625, April.
    17. Bahram Adrangi & Richard Gritta & Kambiz Raffiee, 2014. "Dynamic Interdependence in Jet Fuel Prices and Air Carrier Revenues," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 42(4), pages 473-474, December.
    18. Jan Vespermann & Andreas Wittmer, 2011. "Financial, ecological and managerial impacts of emission trading schemes: the case of Lufthansa," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 174-191, March.
    19. Jaffe, Adam B. & Stavins, Robert N., 1994. "The energy paradox and the diffusion of conservation technology," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 91-122, May.
    20. Benmelech, Efraim & Bergman, Nittai K., 2011. "Vintage capital and creditor protection," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 308-332, February.
    21. Thomas Klier & Joshua Linn, 2010. "The Price of Gasoline and New Vehicle Fuel Economy: Evidence from Monthly Sales Data," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 134-153, August.
    22. Nava, Consuelo R. & Meleo, Linda & Cassetta, Ernesto & Morelli, Giovanna, 2018. "The impact of the EU-ETS on the aviation sector: Competitive effects of abatement efforts by airlines," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 20-34.
    23. Adams, Zeno & Gerner, Mathias, 2012. "Cross hedging jet-fuel price exposure," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1301-1309.
    24. Eisfeldt, Andrea L. & Rampini, Adriano A., 2006. "Capital reallocation and liquidity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 369-399, April.
    25. Verdolini, Elena & Galeotti, Marzio, 2011. "At home and abroad: An empirical analysis of innovation and diffusion in energy technologies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 119-134, March.
    26. Matthew E. Kahn & Jerry Nickelsburg, 2016. "An Economic Analysis of U.S Airline Fuel Economy Dynamics from 1991 to 2015," NBER Working Papers 22830, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Romano, Joseph P. & Wolf, Michael, 2017. "Resurrecting weighted least squares," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 197(1), pages 1-19.
    28. Mark R. Jacobsen & Arthur A. van Benthem, 2015. "Vehicle Scrappage and Gasoline Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(3), pages 1312-1338, March.
    29. Zou, Bo & Elke, Matthew & Hansen, Mark & Kafle, Nabin, 2014. "Evaluating air carrier fuel efficiency in the US airline industry," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 306-330.
    30. Douglas W. Caves & Laurits R. Christensen & Michael W. Tretheway, 1984. "Economies of Density versus Economies of Scale: Why Trunk and Local Service Airline Costs Differ," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 471-489, Winter.
    31. Burke, Paul J. & Nishitateno, Shuhei, 2013. "Gasoline prices, gasoline consumption, and new-vehicle fuel economy: Evidence for a large sample of countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 363-370.
    32. Swidan, Hassan & Merkert, Rico & Kwon, Oh Kang, 2019. "Designing optimal jet fuel hedging strategies for airlines – Why hedging will not always reduce risk exposure," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 20-36.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Annual Review 2020
      by noreply@blogger.com (David Stern) in Stochastic Trend on 2020-12-19 07:18:00
    2. Annual Review 2020
      by noreply@blogger.com (David Stern) in Stochastic Trend on 2020-12-19 07:18:00

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kevin Spiritus & Etienne Lehmann & Sander Renes, "undated". "Optimal Taxation with Multiple Incomes and Types," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-000/IVI, Tinbergen Institute.
    2. Bin Xu, 2022. "How to Efficiently Reduce the Carbon Intensity of the Heavy Industry in China? Using Quantile Regression Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Kito, Minami, 2021. "Impact of aircraft lifetime change on lifecycle CO2 emissions and costs in Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    4. Mollick, André Varella & Amin, Md Ruhul, 2021. "Occupancy, oil prices, and stock returns: Evidence from the U.S. airline industry," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Yu Wang & Kaibo Yuan & Mengyuan Zhu & Shuijin Li, 2023. "A Time-and-Space-Network-Based Green Fleet Planning Model and Its Application for a Hub-and-Spoke Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-26, March.
    6. Valeriy V. Iosifov & Pavel D. Ratner, 2021. "Climate Policies of G20 and New Threats for Russian Energy and Transportation Complex," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(1), pages 478-486.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Ye & Wang, Yan-zhang & Cui, Qiang, 2016. "Has airline efficiency affected by the inclusion of aviation into European Union Emission Trading Scheme? Evidences from 22 airlines during 2008–2012," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 8-22.
    2. Sallee, James M. & West, Sarah E. & Fan, Wei, 2016. "Do consumers recognize the value of fuel economy? Evidence from used car prices and gasoline price fluctuations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 61-73.
    3. Zou, Bo & Elke, Matthew & Hansen, Mark & Kafle, Nabin, 2014. "Evaluating air carrier fuel efficiency in the US airline industry," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 306-330.
    4. Li, Ye & Wang, Yan-zhang & Cui, Qiang, 2015. "Evaluating airline efficiency: An application of Virtual Frontier Network SBM," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-17.
    5. Marrouch, Walid & Mourad, Jana, 2019. "Effect of gasoline prices on car fuel efficiency: Evidence from Lebanon," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    6. Thomas Klier & Joshua Linn & Yichen C. Zhou, 2020. "The effects of fuel prices and vehicle sales on fuel‐saving technology adoption in passenger vehicles," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 543-578, July.
    7. Verboven, Frank & Grigolon, Laura & Reynaert, Mathias, 2014. "Consumer valuation of fuel costs and the effectiveness of tax policy: Evidence from the European car market," CEPR Discussion Papers 10301, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Greene, David L. & Sims, Charles B. & Muratori, Matteo, 2020. "Two trillion gallons: Fuel savings from fuel economy improvements to US light-duty vehicles, 1975–2018," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    9. Matthew E. Kahn & Jerry Nickelsburg, 2016. "An Economic Analysis of U.S Airline Fuel Economy Dynamics from 1991 to 2015," NBER Working Papers 22830, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Lee, Boon L. & Worthington, Andrew C., 2014. "Technical efficiency of mainstream airlines and low-cost carriers: New evidence using bootstrap data envelopment analysis truncated regression," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 15-20.
    11. Xu, Xin & Cui, Qiang, 2017. "Evaluating airline energy efficiency: An integrated approach with Network Epsilon-based Measure and Network Slacks-based Measure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 274-286.
    12. Aydin, Erdal & Brounen, Dirk & Kok, Nils, 2020. "The capitalization of energy efficiency: Evidence from the housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    13. Dou, Xiaoya & Linn, Joshua, 2020. "How do US passenger vehicle fuel economy standards affect new vehicle purchases?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    14. Barros, Carlos Pestana & Peypoch, Nicolas, 2009. "An evaluation of European airlines' operational performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 525-533, December.
    15. Rik L. Rozendaal & Herman R. J. Vollebergh, 2021. "Policy-Induced Innovation in Clean Technologies: Evidence from the Car Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 9422, CESifo.
    16. Popp, David, 2012. "The role of technological change in green growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6239, The World Bank.
    17. Allcott, Hunt & Mullainathan, Sendhil & Taubinsky, Dmitry, 2014. "Energy policy with externalities and internalities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 72-88.
    18. Joshua Linn, 2016. "The Rebound Effect for Passenger Vehicles," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    19. De Borger, Bruno & Mulalic, Ismir & Rouwendal, Jan, 2016. "Substitution between cars within the household," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 135-156.
    20. Kevin Spiritus & Etienne Lehmann & Sander Renes, "undated". "Optimal Taxation with Multiple Incomes and Types," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-000/IVI, Tinbergen Institute.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy Efficiency; Air Transport;

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:175:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919308493. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.