What Is Available Seat Miles (ASM)
Available seat miles (ASM) is a measure of an airplane's carrying capacity available to generate revenues. Available seat miles refers to how many seat miles are actually available for purchase on an airline. Seat miles are calculated by multiplying the number of miles that a given airplane will be flying by the number of seats available for a given flight.
Key Takeaways
- The carrying capacity of an airplane available to create revenues is measured as available seat miles.
- Seat miles are calculated by multiplying the available seats for a given plane by the number of miles that plane will be flying for a given flight.
- For investors analyzing airlines, the measure of an airline's ASM is an important data point to consider.
- There are other metrics used to calculate the cash generated by airlines, including revenue passenger miles and revenue per available seat miles.
Understanding Available Seat Miles (ASM)
ASM is simply a measure of a flight's revenue-generating abilities based upon traffic. For investors analyzing airlines, ASM is a very important metric in deciding which airlines are best at generating revenuesfrom the availability of seats to customers. If all of the seats on the plane are not sold, then the ASM of the airline is operating at below capacity.
Long instances of unavailable seats on an airline can cost an airline million of dollars.
How Available Seat Miles Statistics Are Used
Also known as available seat kilometers in some markets, this metric is used by airlines and statistics keepers because of the variances in aircraft and their seating configurations. The metric can not only measure the performance of individual airlines but the commercial airline industry as a whole. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics, for instance, keeps a running monthly and annual record of domestic, international, and total available seat miles for all carriers and airports.
ASM on its own might not provide the full picture of an air carrier’s financial performance. While the metric does represent the capacity and occupancy of aircraft, revenue passenger miles and revenue per available seat miles are other ways to calculate the money generated by flights. This may be compared against the cost per available seat mile to determine the profitability of each flight.
Not every seat on a plane that is occupied generates revenue for the carrier. Seats used by an airline’s personnel, for example, to connect with a flight crew they will work with, are non-revenue passengers. Certain types of standby passengers might also occupy seats, but not generate revenue for the airline. Airlines may need to transport non-revenue passengers out the necessity to move flight crews around or to fulfill obligations to passengers who have been guaranteed passage on the carrier. How airlines balance such non-revenue passengers against its seats occupied by paying customers can directly affect the profitability of each flight.
Pricing of seats and capacity of the aircraft all factor into understanding the health of a carrier;however, such elements as the costs of fuel, maintenance, and other resources are needed to further illustrate the airline’s performance.
FAQs
Available seat miles refers to how many seat miles are actually available for purchase on an airline. Seat miles are calculated by multiplying the number of miles that a given airplane will be flying by the number of seats available for a given flight.
What does ASM mean on a plane? ›
ASM (Available Seat Mile) One seat (empty or full) flown one mile. Often referred to as the airlines industry's measure of capacity.
What is an example of available seat miles? ›
For example, an aircraft with 300 seats available for sale flying 1,000 statute miles would generate 300,000 ASMs for that particular flight. That the seats are available for sale is critical.
What is ASMs in airlines? ›
Available seat-miles are a measure of the capacity of air passenger transportation. An available seat-mile is equal to one aircraft seat carried one mile. Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment.
What is cost per ASM? ›
Cost per available seat mile (CASM) is a widely used unit of measurement to compare the efficiency of various airlines. Available seat miles (ASM) refers to how many seats on a plane on a given route are actually available for purchase on an airline.
How can I tell how many seats are available on a flight? ›
Let's get into it.
- Check the Airline's Website or App (The Easy Way) Make Sure You're Using the Official Website. ...
- Contact the Airline Directly (The Accurate Way) If the Airline Only Has an International Phone Number or You're Already Traveling.
- How To See the Best Seats on Any Flight (Bonus Tip)
Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM)
What does ASM mean in position? ›
Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) responsibilities include assisting the stage manager and director with all aspects of the planning, coordination, and running of meetings, rehearsals and performances.
What does ASM stand for it? ›
Automatic Storage Management (software) ASM.
Can you use miles to pay for seats? ›
You can use miles to buy a seat for an existing flight reservation. To do this, you'll: Find your trip. Select or change seats to load the seat map.
Cost per Available Seat Mile (CASM)
CASM is calculated by taking all of an airline's operating expenses and dividing it by the total number of available seat miles produced. Sometimes, fuel or transport-related expenses are withheld from CASM calculations to better isolate and directly compare operating expenses.
How many miles are used per flight? ›
On average, a one-way domestic flight will cost between 6,000 miles and 20,000 miles, depending on the airline. A one-way international coach flight will cost 35,000-50,000 miles. Airline miles and points are generally worth around 1 cent each, but their value can vary.
How do you calculate available seat kilometers? ›
Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) – a measure of an airline's carrying capacity to generate revenue, taken from multiplying the available seats on any given aircraft by the number of kilometres flown on a given flight. paying customers, by multiplying the number of paying passengers by the distance travelled.
What are the different airline codes? ›
IATA Airline codes
| IATA code – MAWB | IATA code | IATA airlines |
|---|
| IATA – 001 | IATA – AA | American Airlines |
| IATA – 002 | IATA – 2G | CargoItalia (alternate) |
| IATA – 005 | IATA – CO | Continental Airlines |
| IATA – 006 | IATA – DL | Delta Air Lines |
161 more rowsCASK – Cost of Available Seat Kilometer is used to measure the unit cost expressed in cash value to operate each seat for every kilometre. The lower the CASK value would mean that it's easier to earn revenue. To get the CASK, direct operational cost is divided by the available seat per kilometre.
What does it mean when airlines produce revenue passenger miles but sell available seat miles? ›
Key Takeaways
Revenue passenger mile (RPM) is a transportation industry metric primarily used by the airline industry to show the number of miles traveled by paying passengers. Available seat miles (ASM) measures an airplane's carrying capacity available to generate revenue.
What is SSM vs ASM in aviation? ›
SSM and ASM are usually telex message formats, whereby ASM is usually used in the operational period for a single-dated schedule information. In contrast, SSM is usually used for schedule information outside the operational period and might contain a collection of schedule changes.
How do I ASK my flight attendant for a seat upgrade? ›
Therefore, before a flight starts boarding, you can check with a gate agent to see if this scenario is playing out on your flight. And if so, tell them that you're interested in paying for an upgrade. For a final try, if that also fails, you can ask the lead flight attendant or flight attendant at the boarding door.
What does seat availability mean? ›
SEAT AVAILABILITY means information provided with respect to the seats Airline holds out as available for sale to the general public on a particular flight in screen displays of the Airline Internal Reservation System or Airline Internet Site.
