3 ms·

If a significant fraction of people won’t show up AND a significant fraction of those who do show up will have flexible plans and be happy to take a later fligh

• bogomipz 9y ago
  >"If a significant fraction of people won’t show up ." I think its safe to say that there isn't a "significant fraction" of people who don't show up for their flights.
  • wpietri 9y ago
    The fraction is obviously significant to the people trying to make sure airplanes are fully utilized, so this seems like a word game to me. People miss flights all the time. A brief look for stats doesn't turn up hard data, but TechCrunch has it at ~5%: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/11/overbooking/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/11/overbooking/ Someone who worked in ticketing for two airlines says it's 2% for flights to hubs, and 5-8% for flights from hubs, because of missed connections: https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-people-who-check-in-for-a-flight-end-up-missing-it/answer/Ben-Deneweth https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-people-who-check-in... According to IATA, a good year for airline industry profits is circa 5%: http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2016-12-08-01.aspx http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2016-12-08-01.aspx So even if we take the lowest fraction, 2%, filling those seats represents 40% of the profit margin. That sounds pretty significant to me.
  • hueving 9y ago
    I think it's safe to say you don't understand why the refundable fare class exists then.