Arlington, VA, March 13, 2003 - ARC's operating statistics for the month of February 2003 show a continuing deterioration relative to the same period a year before. Total sales of $4,886,939,000 were seven percent below what was reported in the same month in 2002. International fares in particular dropped sharply compared to recent trends where international fares had compared very favorably to domestic fares.

While Sales overall are dropping, average sales per agency location continue to be strong, hitting a post-Sept. 11 record of $42,843 per location. The total number of transactions processed was the highest we have seen in a four-week month since May of 2002. This, in combination with the declining number of agent locations, serves to contribute to the strong individual location volume. Electronic tickets accounted for 80.1% of processed volume in February - a small dip from 80.3% the month before.

Archived copies of ARC's monthly statistics can be found on ARC's Web site at http://www.arccorp.com/news/news_sales_doc_stats.html.

View this month's statistics.