> they lost out on the extra money they may have been able to charge someone else Not necessarily. Airlines have sophisticated yield management programs that s

> they lost out on the extra money they may have been able to charge someone else Not necessarily. Airlines have sophisticated yield management programs that should give them a good estimate on how many passengers are likely to skip the final leg of any particular route -- the airline can oversell the final leg by exactly the number of passengers who aren't likely to show up.