Collapsing oil prices have led to 15% cheaper flights, and they look like they're only going to get cheaper

The United States Department of Labor has just released a detailed report showing that air passengers fees decreased by 15% or more in 2015. The drop, the biggest on record since such an index began tracking in 1987, is credited mainly to the global collapse in oil prices.

The data speaks for itself, but aviation industry experts agree, prices are low and will likely continue to fall. Hopper's Patrick Surry studies billions of industry data points in his role at the flight pricing startup, and tells NPR he agrees with the federal study's findings:

"We're seeing about 14 to 15 percent lower this year than we have in the past."

In this brave new world where oil is priced more akin to black coffee than black gold, airlines are able to pass noticeable savings onto consumers, while still pocketing much of the profits for themselves. And that's not necessarily a bad arrangement.

The global financial crisis, after all, was sparked here in the states. The Great Recession hit U.S. carriers hard, delaying upgrades to infrastructure and investment in new aircraft and facilities for nearly a decade. Now, airlines and airports alike are making use of this window of opportunity, building new terminals, launching new routes, and transitioning their fleets into the next generation of jets.

Airlines for America's chief economist John Heimlich says this boom is allowing airlines to get their books in order after two decades remembered more for their bankruptcies and survival-of-the-fittest mergers than for their impeccable service. Heimlech does the math for Chris Arnold of NPR:

"Ten airlines combined including their merged partners over the last almost six years paid down $52.5 billion in debt."

So have we seen the bottom of the drop in airfare just yet? Not likely. Another Hopper employee, Dara Continenza, says that a route from LAX to Honolulu could shed an additional $200 in cost in the coming year off of its already more modest price. For consumers, that may be news worth celebrating with a vacation.