Originally Posted by simkiss
That statistic is not particularly meaningful, ConnFlyer.
It's not just labor costs, it's revenue per employee. US Airways has ridiculous union work rules in force, which means they use their equipment and people *much* less efficiently than Southwest.
The work rules in place at US Airways mean that FAs are not allowed to clean planes and that pilots fly relatively few hours per month. They also mean that baggage handlers spend a lot of time standing around doing nothing.
Labor costs for the work that the unionized employees do ARE the single biggest problem at US Airways.
p.s. You mean that they have shrunk, not "have shrunken." Shrink. Shrank. Shrunk.
First of all, per seat mile labor costs is the only thing that matters
Second, the system is REALLY simple
Per Seat Mile Rev - (seat mile labor, opex, amortized capex, overhead, debt service) had better be a positive number - if not, go home! it is over