Load Factor

The share of an airline's seats that were filled by paying passengers, shown as a percentage: revenue passenger miles (seat miles sold) divided by available seat miles (seat miles flown). An 85% load factor means 85 of every 100 seat miles flown carried a paying passenger. Higher is better -- a fuller plane spreads the mostly fixed cost of a flight over more tickets. But it can mislead on its own: an airline can fill seats by cutting fares, so read load factor alongside unit revenue (RASM) and yield. It is also seasonal, with summer quarters usually running fullest, so compare the same quarter year over year.

Related terms

Accounts Payable · Adjusted EBITDA · Adjusted EBITDA Ex-SBC · Administered-Only Members · ADR · ARPU

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