Because it really isn't. Just because it's high at the beginning, high at the end and goes lower somewhere in the middle doesn't mean that it has the characteristics of a Gaussian distribution ("bell curve"):
Distribution is not symmetric about the mean
The tails on either side (as a result) are not the same
It is nowhere near a continuous function
Basically, looks pretty much nothing like an inverted Gaussian
Cheers.
I'm not saying it
is a bell curve. I said it's more accurately described as one than the analogy given that I was replying to.
The
detail of how any given airline runs their yield management software isn't some big secret, nor even really the point in regards to this particular thread. They all use the same yield theories because those theories drive most commercial yield systems, whether it be airline tickets, cruise lines, automated stock pricing and bidding software, or apartment rental pricing, etc.