4 ms·

I worked for a British based airline for a couple of years (before the fuel surcharges were introduced). Regarding tickets, economy (coach) tickets are not wher

by chippy 11y ago

I worked for a British based airline for a couple of years (before the fuel surcharges were introduced). Regarding tickets, economy (coach) tickets are not where airlines make their money, so we probably shouldn't look at the prices we pay for these tickets as data points relating to costs (fuel). It's not comparable to train or bus travel. They make any profits with business class and first class tickets. These are the seat prices which may reflect the costs to operate. Economy seats are there to fill up the plane. They can run the flight and still make a profit if all the business class and first class seats are taken and no economy seats are there. This is why the adverts you see on TV are never about the economy class, but all about the business / first class / luxury class. Airlines only compete with each other on these luxury seats, they don't compete with economy seats.

jlg23 11y ago
I've taken quite a lot of flights where there either was no business or first class or, if there was a business class, it was only marginally more expensive than cattle^weconomy class. Traveling through South America for 14 months now, the average economy seat is about 80USD per hour of flight if bought directly at the airport. How do they make a profit if your calculation is correct? (And I am not talking about the probably heavily subsidized regional airlines that get you from one jungle airfield to another and are the only means of getting to lots of places.)
- nikcub 11y ago
  > How do they make a profit if your calculation is correct? They don't. Or freight.
  - dingaling 11y ago
    > They don't. Of course they do; Easyjet and Ryanair, to name two, are wildly profitable without business and first class and they don't carry cargo.
  - seanmcdirmid 11y ago
    Southwest makes money and they lack business class. Domestic routes rarely make money on biz class, and they are still profitable. Only international routes have significant biz class markups (believe me, I would pay a lot to sleep on an 11 hour flight). Economy seats are probably more profitable than the airlines want to let on given that the experience is so miserable.
SixSigma 11y ago
Explain this then : Emirates launches new two-class Airbus A380 after scrapping first class in favour of expanding economy and creating the largest ever passenger plane by cutting out first class and reducing the number of business class flatbed seats. It now boasts 557 economy seats and 58 business http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11991881/Emirates-plane-removes-first-class-to-fit-in-the-most-seats-ever.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11991881/Emirat...
bogomipz 11y ago
I find this hard to believe, why then do airlines have such punitive policies for things like changing travel dates and extra fees for checking luggage? Airlines "nickel and dime" travelers now for every minor convenience that was previously included in a fare- snack foods, in-flight entertainment, emergency aisle seats etc. If nothing really matters besides business class fares then please explain the existence of these insulting and petty practices. Also can you site evidence besides anecdotally that you worked for an airline?

by chippy 11y ago

jlg23 11y ago

I've taken quite a lot of flights where there either was no business or first class or, if there was a business class, it was only marginally more expensive than cattle^weconomy class. Traveling through South America for 14 months now, the average economy seat is about 80USD per hour of flight if bought directly at the airport. How do they make a profit if your calculation is correct? (And I am not talking about the probably heavily subsidized regional airlines that get you from one jungle airfield to another and are the only means of getting to lots of places.)

nikcub 11y ago
> How do they make a profit if your calculation is correct? They don't. Or freight.
- dingaling 11y ago
  > They don't. Of course they do; Easyjet and Ryanair, to name two, are wildly profitable without business and first class and they don't carry cargo.
- seanmcdirmid 11y ago
  Southwest makes money and they lack business class. Domestic routes rarely make money on biz class, and they are still profitable. Only international routes have significant biz class markups (believe me, I would pay a lot to sleep on an 11 hour flight). Economy seats are probably more profitable than the airlines want to let on given that the experience is so miserable.

SixSigma 11y ago

Explain this then : Emirates launches new two-class Airbus A380 after scrapping first class in favour of expanding economy and creating the largest ever passenger plane by cutting out first class and reducing the number of business class flatbed seats. It now boasts 557 economy seats and 58 business http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11991881/Emirates-plane-removes-first-class-to-fit-in-the-most-seats-ever.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11991881/Emirat...

bogomipz 11y ago

I find this hard to believe, why then do airlines have such punitive policies for things like changing travel dates and extra fees for checking luggage? Airlines "nickel and dime" travelers now for every minor convenience that was previously included in a fare- snack foods, in-flight entertainment, emergency aisle seats etc. If nothing really matters besides business class fares then please explain the existence of these insulting and petty practices. Also can you site evidence besides anecdotally that you worked for an airline?