What does the term load factor refer to in airline operations?

What does the term load factor refer to in airline operations?

• A. The percentage of seats that are filled on a flight.
• B. The rate of aircraft fuel consumption per hour.
• C. The average length of stay for passengers on board.
• D. The number of turns an aircraft makes in a day.

Answer: (A)

Load factor measures how fully a flight’s seating capacity is used. It’s the percentage of seats that are filled on a given flight, found by dividing the number of passengers by the total number of seats and multiplying by 100. For example, a 180-seat airplane with 144 passengers has a load factor of 80%. This shows how effectively the airline is utilizing available capacity and is a key input for pricing, scheduling, and revenue management. It’s not about fuel burn per hour, passenger stay length, or how many turns the aircraft makes in a day.

Load factor measures how fully a flight’s seating capacity is used. It’s the percentage of seats that are filled on a given flight, found by dividing the number of passengers by the total number of seats and multiplying by 100. For example, a 180-seat airplane with 144 passengers has a load factor of 80%. This shows how effectively the airline is utilizing available capacity and is a key input for pricing, scheduling, and revenue management. It’s not about fuel burn per hour, passenger stay length, or how many turns the aircraft makes in a day.