Originally Posted by
grandgourmand
Building profits or maintaining profits. I don't have any stats to back it up, but there are certain price limits the market will bear. E.g. $500-$600 from somewhere in Canada to Caribbean, from YYZ-YVR in economy, $1000-$1200 to London. Some pretty common stuff. I'd wager that these prices have been pretty stagnant for years, even down. But the market doesn't want to pay more than an amount they've become accustomed to seeing.
Why should the market pay more than they are used to paying when the price of fuel is low, new aircraft are more fuel efficient, and airlines have cut their labour costs substantially by reducing pension liabilities?
Keep in mind that while there has been inflation over the last, say, 20 years, many people's real net income has not gone up.