Originally Posted by
TXguy
And yet AA is getting much less in the way of revenue (proportionately) than DL. The critical miscalculation that you (and AA) have made is that spending less will lead to the same revenue. Actual data shows it isn’t true.
But companies care about profit, not revenue. Profit is revenue minus cost. Thus, it is possible that AA could bring in less revenue while spending less, and still wind up with the same or better profit. There's not necessarily one right strategy here.
To be honest, based on my conversations with the people in my organization who travel, DL wins more of their business because of better schedules and better operations, not because of a screen. Personally I stick mostly with AA because I have status (will hit Plat this year), but I have switched some to DL. On my most frequent route, DL has more frequency and better times. They're gradually winning more of my business that way. And I happened to notice they have more at-seat power, which is a plus for me. They also offer cheap buy-up to F, so lack of upgrades isn't an issue.
If you care that much about a screen, vote with your wallet!