Originally Posted by
Adelphos
I came to this thread late - this is a very basic question, but what was the business model for airlines in the 1980s that allowed them to fly half full, widebody planes with the level of service these flights seemed to have? I know tickets were more expensive, but it would seem that demand was also lower. Was CASM so low that the airlines could afford it? Were airline companies subsidized?
No direct subsidies after the early 1960's, but with regulation, the airlines cross subsidized some of the shorter, local service type routes with revenues from the more profitable ones. Basically, the only major "hubs" as we know them today were Delta's in Atlanta (and, to a lesser extent, Eastern's, and Braniff in Dallas. Yes, there were other opportunities to connect enroute, but most of the time you ended up interlining. I think an argument can be made that if you compare apples to apples (in those days all fares were fully refundable), after adjusting for inflation, the fares were higher, but not that much higher as I hear people ..... about today.