Airlines pursue ways to keep these expenses down in order to remain profitable through efficient aircraft, deliberate flight planning, and sophisticated maintenance scheduling. Knowing aircraft operating costs is key to keeping flight performance and fiscal altitude on track.

Flying an aircraft is not all it's cracked up to be—it's a sophisticated blend of costs that airlines have to keep in check. These operation expenses are typically broken down as fixed and variable.

Fixed costs don't vary by flight frequency and encompass aircraft lease or purchase payments, insurance premiums, pilot salaries, and hangar or storage charges. These are continuous expenditures, even when the aircraft is not in use.

Variable expenses are a function of the amount of use of the aircraft. They consist of fuel (usually the largest of these), regular maintenance, airport landing charges, air navigation fees, and ground handling.