Originally Posted by
eagle215
I've read that in past annual reports (Yes, I read them cover to cover, accounting and special items included) of the fact that the Trans-Pacific and Atlantic are the best ones for margin and most profitable. I do not know if you recall this, one of the main reasons Air Canada took over Canadian Airlines wayyyyyyy back was because they had a stronghold on the asia pacific routes and airport slots which were the most profitable.
Highest margin doesn't mean the most profits in absolute dollars (your "majority of profits"). TPAC has become much more competitive in recent years (rise of the Chinese airlines, BR, etc) than it was during the time you're thinking of (around the turn of the millenium). Meanwhile, domestic has settled in to a very cozy duopoly with very high fares. That's very different from the 90s and early 2000s when AC and CP were constantly challenged by WS, Jetsgo, Greyhound, etc... We also constantly see AC blowing Y seats out the door for barely the cost of fuel on TATL/TPAC routes.
TATL and TPAC may still be the highest-margin routes, but I'm not convinced that the margins are that much higher than domestic/TB that those 40% of sales make up >50% of the profits.