U.S. travel agency air ticket sales reached $10.2 billion in September 2026, up 18% on September 2025, according to data from Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC). Third-quarter sales totalled $29.7 billion, also up 18%.
The volume behind those figures is far more modest. Passenger trips rose 2% year on year to 25.7 million in September, and 3.5% to 77.4 million for the quarter. Price is a major part of the gap. The average domestic round-trip ticket settled through ARC cost $669, up 20%, with economy at $608 (up 21%) and premium cabins at $1,562 (up 14%). ARC’s commentary stresses resilient demand, but the figures point to a market in which agency sales value is growing much faster than passenger volume, with higher ticket prices a major factor. International trips were up just 1% on the year and down 3% from August.
On NDC, transactions made up 21.2% of ARC-settled transactions in September, with 1,264 agencies reporting NDC activity. ARC describes the share as a 7% increase on a year earlier. The more telling detail is the trend within 2026. Based on ARC’s monthly releases, the share has stayed in a narrow band since June, at 21.6% in June, 21.2% in July and 21.5% in August, before returning to 21.2% in September. It stood at the same 21.2% in December 2025. The number of agencies transacting in NDC has kept climbing, from 1,139 in December to 1,264 in September, so more agencies are taking part without moving the overall share much.
ARC covers only agency-settled sales and excludes tickets bought directly from airlines, so these figures measure NDC in the agency channel, not NDC overall. Even in the U.S. agency market, nearly four in five settled transactions still sit outside NDC. For carriers and distributors in emerging markets planning around a fast shift away from existing channels, that is a useful reference point. The figures suggest NDC adoption is broadening in the agency channel, with more agencies transacting, while its share of settled volume has moved little. For now, that points to NDC expanding alongside existing distribution rather than materially displacing it within ARC-settled transactions.
