Airlines Reporting Corporation
| Abbreviation | ARC |
|---|---|
| Formation | January 1, 1985, Washington, D.C. |
| Type | Private |
| Purpose | Data, distribution and financial services for the travel industry |
| Headquarters | Arlington, Virginia |
| Membership | 241 airlines, 10,273 travel agencies, 13,000 points of sale |
Key people |
|
| Website | arccorp.com |
Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) is a company that provides ticket transaction settlement services between airlines and travel agencies (both traditional and online) and the travel management companies that sell their products in the United States. In 2025, ARC processed $100 billion worth of transactions for its customers.[1]
ARC, which is owned by seven major airlines, offers its transactional data for sale to customers in the travel industry. ARC compiles data on more than 240 carriers, sourced from more than 10,000 travel agencies.[2]
History
ARC was established on September 17, 1984, as a privately held company following airline deregulation in the United States. The corporation began operations on January 1, 1985, in Washington, D.C., settling financial ticket transactions between airlines and travel agencies. ARC is the successor to the Air Traffic Conference of America, an operating division of Airlines for America, formerly known as the Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (ATA).
ARC's primary function is to support the travel industry by providing transaction settlement between travel suppliers and resellers. More than 200 airlines rely on ARC's ticket settlement services.[3] The corporation also accredits travel agencies in the United States to sell airline tickets, and provides data information services and analysis based on archived aggregated data.
Shareholders and Board Member Companies
Shareholders:[4]
- Air Canada
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- JetBlue Airways
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
Board Members:[5]
- ARC – Bonnie Reitz (Chair)
- ARC – Lauri Reishus (President, CEO)
- Air Canada – Alison Short
- Air France – Isabel Monteiro
- Alaska Airlines, Inc. – Emily Halverson
- American Airlines – Angie Owens
- Delta Air Lines – Matt Schrag
- JetBlue Airways – Vijay Raman
- Lufthansa – Michael Klein
- Southwest Airlines – Rob Brown
- United Airlines – Glenn Hollister
- Chair of Audit Committee – Angie Owens
Customers
Among ARC's customers who purchase transaction information are airlines, travel agencies, and other companies in the travel industry. These organizations use ARC data to settle and report transactions, grow their businesses, and support their customers.[6] ARC data can also be used to identify trends in travel data and to prevent fraud.[2]
Its now-ended Travel Intelligence Program (TIP) was established by ARC following the September 11, 2001 attacks and was intended to strengthen national security in the United States. Under TIP, ARC sold ticket settlement data to various US government agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives, the Department of Defense, the Internal Revenue Service, the US Secret Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the State Department, the US Marshals Service, the Transportation Security Administration, and the US Department of the Treasury.[2][7] According to ARC, TIP has "likely contributed to the prevention and apprehension of criminals involved in human trafficking, drug trafficking, money laundering, sex trafficking, national security threats, terrorism and other imminent threats of harm to the United States.” A 2025 contract with the Secret Service states that ARC provides "5 billion ticketing records for searching capabilities."[2]
Additional contracts with US government have also been reported on. In May 2025, The Lever reported that ARC had collected and sold domestic flight records of US travelers, including passenger names, flight itineraries, and financial data, to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.[7] In June 2025, 404 Media reported that ARC had collected and sold domestic flight records of US travelers to the US Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP).[8] As part of CBP's contract with ARC, which began in June 2024, ARC requested that CBP not publicly reveal that ARC had provided the data.[8] In November 2025, ARC announced that it was ending the TIP after determining "TIP is no longer aligned with ARC's goal of serving the travel industry."[9]
References
- ^ "Annual U.S. Travel Agency Air Ticket Sales Surpass $100 Billion for the First Time". Airlines Reporting Corporation. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d "ARC Sales Statistics". 2025-12-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Settlment Services". Airlines Reporting Corporation. Retrieved 2026-02-10.
- ^ "Leadership & Governance". Airlines Reporting Corporation. Retrieved 2026-02-10.
- ^ "Leadership & Governance". Airlines Reporting Corporation. Retrieved 2026-02-10.
- ^ "Our Story". Airlines Reporting Corporation. Archived from the original on 29 April 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
- ^ a b Schwenk, Katya (2025-05-08). "Airlines Are Collecting Your Data And Selling It To ICE". The Lever. Archived from the original on 2025-06-05. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
- ^ a b Cox, Joseph (2025-06-10). "Airlines Don't Want You to Know They Sold Your Flight Data to DHS". 404 Media. Archived from the original on 2025-06-10. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
- ^ Cox, Joseph (November 18, 2025). "Airlines Will Shut Down Program That Sold Your Flights Records to Government". 404 Media. Retrieved November 22, 2025.