The usage of intellectual capital and organizational performance has been gaining attention in business management and organizational leadership. The value of intangible assets is often hidden in the book value, leading to missed opportunities in the global economy. The intent of this quantitative correlational study was to determine the relationship between the self-reported and measured intellectual capital usage and the financial performance of the airline industry in the United States. Leaders of mainline, regional, cargo, charter, and commuter airline corporations in the United States provided intellectual capital usage through a self-report online survey hosted by SurveyMonkey RTM. Intellectual capital was also collected from the financial statements of the airlines. Airline industry performance was based on the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) method and theoretical framework. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to test the hypothesized relationship between the variables. The results from this study revealed a strong significant positive relationship between the measured intellectual capital usage and financial performance of the airline industry; whereas there was no significant relationship between the self-report intellectual capital usage and financial performance of the airline industry within the United States. It is recommended that airline leaders facilitate a better construct of awareness and understanding of the usage of intellectual capital. The results indicate the strong relationship between actual intellectual capital usage and organizational performance where the leadership could use this information to gain a competitive advantage. Future research is recommended to further examine the effects of intellectual capital usage on the organizational performance of the airline industry.