Table 10. System* Airline Unit Costs (Cents per Mile),,,,,,, Network Carriers,,,,,,, Ranked by 3rd Quarter 2006 Unit Costs ,,,,,,, (Operating Expenses per Available Seat Mile in cents),,,,,,, 2Q 2006 Rank,Network Carriers,3rd Quarter 2005 ,4th Quarter 2005 ,1st Quarter 2006 ,2nd Quarter 2006 ,3rd Quarter 2006 ,3rd Quarter Operating Expenses $(Millions) 1,US Airways,13.8,15.6,15.6,16.1,15.7,"1,971" 2,Northwest,14.7,15.1,14.2,13.8,13.6,"3,032" 3,Delta,12.6,14.1,14.4,13.4,13.6,"4,573" 4,Continental,12.7,13.5,13.3,13.6,13.4,"3,311" 5,United,12.4,13.1,13.4,13.4,13.0,"4,835" 6,American,12.1,13.1,12.3,12.4,12.6,"5,610" 7,Alaska,10.5,11.0,13.3,11.4,12.3,756 ,Seven-Carrier Total,12.7,13.7,13.5,13.4,13.3,"24,089" Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data,,,,,,, * System = domestic + international ,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,