Originally Posted by
WineCountryUA
For 2013
Code:
Passengers
Domestic International Total
2013 UA 65,113,482 24,164,556 89,278,038
2013 DL 98,372,322 20,561,599 118,933,921
Still 33% higher even if the small DL international traffic is included. But international is 20 to 30% of the total passagner count, so domestic is likely driving the numbers.
So the 34% bag rev boost for DL on 33% (to 60% domestic only) more passengers totals seems to make sense.
The potential flaw with the analysis is that the domestic passenger numbers above are mainline only and exclude the regional domestic passengers carried by SkyWest, Mesa, Endeavor, etc. The checked baggage fees are listed by the DOT solely under the marketing carrier (mainline airline that purchased the regional capacity) yet the passenger numbers from the link exclude the tens of millions of passengers boarding the regional airlines.
If DL has been reducing its regional fleet faster than UA (oft-repeated rumour - don't know whether it's correct), then UA's total domestic passenger counts (consolidated, including mainline and regional) should be closer to DL's consolidated passenger counts.
Some of the regional airlines tend to fly for just one or two mainline carriers yet others fly for all three, so the BTS link above doesn't lend itself to easy analysis to determine how many of the regional passengers bought tickets from DL, UA or AA (other than Envoy, PSA and Piedmont, which fly solely for AA and US, respectively).
It's possible that DL flies significantly more domestic passengers than UA on a consolidated basis, but I don't think the disparity is anywhere near 30%.