This is not quite accurate. The same seat can have different prices depending on a number of factors such as booking classes, availability rules, fare component

This is not quite accurate. The same seat can have different prices depending on a number of factors such as booking classes, availability rules, fare components, time of booking, OTA mark-downs etc http://www.ai.mit.edu/courses/6.034f/psets/ps1/airtravel.pdf http://www.ai.mit.edu/courses/6.034f/psets/ps1/airtravel.pdf gives a good overview what goes into pricing, although said being said it's from 2003 so things have evolved since then.