ARC

ARC (Airlines Reporting Corporation) is an airline-owned US company that provides financial settlement, agency accreditation, data and technology services for the air travel industry. Established in 1984 following US airline deregulation, it began operations on January 1, 1985, in Washington, D.C., and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.^[1]

ARC serves more than 250 airlines and nearly 10,000 travel agencies, processing over $100 billion annually in air travel transactions. Its shareholders include seven North American airlines: Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.^[1]

What It Does

ARC settles ticket transactions between airlines and travel agencies, accredits agencies to sell air travel, provides reporting and financial reconciliation, and offers payment and fraud-prevention services. On the data side it supplies air travel transaction data and fraud detection and risk insights drawn from its settlement volumes, alongside airline retailing technology, APIs and orders-based settlement systems.^[1]

Data And Methodology

Because ARC sits at the center of US air ticket settlement, its transaction database covers the majority of US agency-sold air travel, making its sales statistics a widely used benchmark for industry volume. The company also operates settlement infrastructure supporting New Distribution Capability (NDC) partnerships between airlines and agencies.^[1][2]

Buyers And Use Cases

Primary customers are airlines, travel agencies and corporate travel buyers using settlement and accreditation services; secondary consumers of ARC's data products include analysts and firms tracking travel demand. The company's aggregate sales figures are regularly cited in coverage of the US travel industry.^[1][2]

History

ARC was established on September 17, 1984, as a privately held successor to the Air Traffic Conference of America, an operating division of the Air Transport Association, and started settling transactions on January 1, 1985. In 1995 it launched the ARC Pay payment solution and introduced data products.^[1]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, ARC established the Travel Intelligence Program (TIP) to strengthen US national security by giving participating government agencies access to certain travel-related information. The program drew privacy scrutiny in 2025, including reporting by 404 Media, and ARC ended TIP in late 2025, stating that it was no longer aligned with its goal of serving the travel industry.^[1]