Name

Airlines Clearing House

Legal name

Airlines Clearing House, Inc.

Website

https://airlinesclearinghouse.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1943

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aviation Financial Clearing & Settlement

NAICS

Scheduled Air Transportation (48111)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro primary industry

Interline, Codeshare & Proration Settlement Platforms (THABAJAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Interlining, Codeshare & Settlement (Proration/Revenue Accounting) (THALABAI), ACH Operator & Clearinghouse Services (FSAMAGAA), ACH Returns, Exceptions & Dispute Management (FSAMAGAI)

Keywords

• Airline settlement services
• Interline billing clearing
• Net settlement processing
• Passenger facility charges
• Aviation financial clearing

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: ACH operates as an airline-owned, not-for-profit facility. Revenue is generated through membership fees including application fees, participation deposits, monthly membership fees, and annual fees for large participants. This is a cost-recovery model rather than profit-driven.
2. ACH Settlement Services: Net settlement services for interline billings including Passenger, UATP, Airfreight, and Non-Transport transactions. Facilitates settlements in CAD, EUR, GBP, and USD.
3. PFC Settlement Services: Passenger Facility Charge settlement and quarterly reporting services for airports, processing monthly settlements at $200/month plus bank fees.
4. SIRS Settlement Services: Simplified Involuntary Reroute Settlement service for airlines, billed at $1,500 annually. Provides dispute-free method for settling involuntary reroutes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Airlines Clearing House (ACH) operates an airline-owned, not-for-profit clearing facility that processes worldwide net settlement of interline accounts receivable among airlines, airports, and other aviation industry participants. Founded in 1943, ACH nets bilateral and multilateral obligations across passenger, UATP, airfreight, and non-transport billings, allowing participants to deposit and receive only net balances in CAD, EUR, GBP, and USD. Supporting services include SMART (web-based settlement reporting), SIRS (Simplified Involuntary Reroute Settlement), and PFC (Passenger Facility Charge) Settlement for airports.

Product overview

Airlines Clearing House (ACH) is an airline-owned, not-for-profit clearing and settlement organization offering a suite of net settlement services for the global airline industry. The core offering is ACH Net Settlement, which handles interline accounts receivable clearing across passenger, UATP, airfreight, and non-transport billings. Supporting the core platform are three specialized settlement products: Simplified Involuntary Reroute Settlement (SIRS) for dispute-free involuntary reroute billing, Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Settlement for managing airport PFC remittances and quarterly reporting, and UATP Settlement for Universal Air Travel Plan card transactions. All participants access the system through the Settlement Management and Reporting Tool (SMART), which serves as the web-based interface for managing and reporting on settlement activities. Settlement funds flow through U.S. Bank demand deposit accounts, with processing four times monthly (monthly for PFC). Over 350 airlines, airports, and partners clear more than $14 billion (recent figure) to $26 billion (claims figure) annually through the platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SMART: Settlement Management and Reporting Tool - a web-based tool for settlement management and reporting.
• SIRS
• PFC Settlements
• ACH Net Settlement

Products and services

• ACH Net Settlement Core clearing and net settlement service that enables participating airlines, airports, and other companies to net settle interline accounts receivable billings (passenger, UATP, airfreight, and non-transport) globally. Built on 75+ years of trust, the process nets bilateral and multilateral obligations so participants deposit and receive only net balances.
• Settlement Management and Reporting Tool (SMART) Web-based tool that provides settlement management and reporting functionality for ACH participants, enabling them to manage and report on their settlement activities digitally.
• Simplified Involuntary Reroute Settlement (SIRS) Eliminates disputes on involuntary reroute tickets by settling them at a percentage of the IATA Weighted Mileage Factor (WMF) based on origin and destination, using a 1% sample of participating carriers' sales to calculate regional rates across 8 global regions.
• Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Settlement Simplifies the management, reconciliation, and auditing of Passenger Facility Charges by facilitating monthly aggregated payments from airlines to airports via U.S. Bank, with quarterly reporting provided to airports.

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• U.S. BankcoreTechnology or IntegrationU.S. Bank is ACH's banking partner for settlement fund management. ACH acts as Agent only and does not have access to settlement funds. U.S. Bank provides technology to conduct settlements while participants maintain control of their funds. The bank also operates a Security Briefing Center for cybersecurity awareness and hosts engagements for ACH members at annual meetings.
• IATA Clearing House (ICH)coreTechnology or IntegrationACH has agreements with IATA Clearing House to provide additional net settlement opportunities between ACH and ICH participants. Settlements between ACH and ICH participants are conducted only in USD.
• Airlines for America (A4A)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA4A is the industry trade association for US airlines. ACH operates under the A4A Interline Traffic Agreement framework. John Heimlich, A4A's VP & Chief Economist, speaks at ACH annual meetings on fuel and economic forecasting. A4A regulatory and legal teams provide updates at ACH meetings.
• ATPCO (Airline Tariff Publishing Company)majorTechnology or IntegrationATPCO provides O&D (Origin & Destination) data and retailing solutions. They sponsor sessions at ACH annual meetings and their representatives present updates on Modern Retailing, NDC, and PIPPS initiatives.
• ARC (Airlines Reporting Corporation)majorTechnology or IntegrationARC provides financial settlement services for travel agencies. ARC representatives present updates at ACH annual meetings on financial operations and ticket reporting.
• UATP (Universal Air Travel Plan)majorTechnology or IntegrationUATP is a payment network for air travel. ACH settles UATP transactions and UATP sponsors networking breakfast at ACH annual meetings.
• Ryan LLCminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerRyan is a tax consulting firm specializing in aviation industry ticket and fuel excise taxes. Presents at ACH meetings on tax audit defense and recovery. Principal Nathan Bittner has helped airlines identify over $750 million in tax savings.
• Hahn AirminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHahn Air's ABS (Award Billing System) Working Group provides updates at ACH meetings. Daniel Erler, Head of Sales Processing and Quality Team, presents ABS WG updates.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Travelport (now part of Corporate Travel Management): Travelport operates a GDS and travel commerce platform serving airlines and travel agencies. Comparable to ACH at the broad airline technology layer, with overlapping revenue accounting and settlement touchpoints.
• Sabre Corporation: Sabre is a major GDS and travel technology incumbent that touches airline ticketing, settlement, and revenue accounting workflows. While broader than ACH, Sabre's airline IT portfolio competes for the same revenue accounting budgets at member airlines.
• Amadeus IT Group: Amadeus is a major GDS and airline IT platform providing ticketing, distribution, and revenue accounting technology to global airlines. Comparable to ACH only at the broad airline-IT layer; not a direct settlement competitor.

Others

• A4A (Airlines for America): A4A is the U.S. airline industry trade association under whose Interline Traffic Agreement framework ACH operates. A4A is not a competitor but is a key ecosystem participant that influences ACH's operating rules.
• ATPCO (Airline Tariff Publishing Company): ATPCO provides O&D data, retailing, and tariff publishing infrastructure that feeds the airline revenue accounting processes ACH settles. Not a direct competitor but tightly coupled to ACH's settlement workflow.

Emerging players

• Accelya: Accelya provides airline retailing, DOT O&D, and revenue accounting technology solutions. They overlap with ACH in airline financial processes and present at ACH's annual meeting, signaling adjacency in revenue accounting workflows.

Regional players

• Hahn Air: Hahn Air operates a regional airline distribution and interline ticketing business, with an ABS (Award Billing System) working group that interfaces with ACH for settlement. Regional overlap with ACH on interline ticketing settlement flows.

Direct peers

• UATP (Universal Air Travel Plan): UATP operates an airline-owned payment network whose transaction settlements ACH processes. UATP is a peer in airline payment infrastructure and shares ACH's airline-owned mutual structure.
• IATA Clearing House: IATA Clearing House (ICH) provides global interline settlement services to airlines worldwide, the most direct functional analog to ACH. ACH and ICH have a formal agreement to extend net settlement reach to each other's participants, indicating they are complementary rather than purely substitutable, but they compete for cross-border airline settlement volume.
• Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC): ARC provides financial settlement services for airline ticket transactions distributed through travel agencies in the U.S. Like ACH, ARC acts as a neutral financial intermediary settling airline receivables, and ARC presents updates at ACH's annual meeting, reflecting their adjacent roles in airline revenue accounting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Airlines Clearing House