be careful with airline motivation, they are looking into their profit margins, and one way to reduce fuel price is to increase the economy of scale, that means

be careful with airline motivation, they are looking into their profit margins, and one way to reduce fuel price is to increase the economy of scale, that means more passengers, more pollution, more fuel, but less fuel per passenger. That was the whole point of the A380, a giant gas guzzler, but per passenger it was more efficient, it only works if you destroy smaller planes or increase passenger traffic. The second aspect of it is that economies of scale are on the last leg, most airline companies use smaller planes, with a hub and spoke model, and a highly energy inefficient system, because it's better in their overall profit making system. They are there to make money first, carrying passengers is the hoops they have to go through to get people's money (but by cleverly worded passenger carrying contracts, they are more and more getting around the issue), and fuel price is a variable in the system.