Originally Posted by
Velocipediste
Some years back there was a news segment that examined the profit for a NYC-LAX flight. I think it was a 767 flown by AA. From what I remember, despite a high load factor, the flight only cleared a profit of around $300. All the advance purchase inexpensive fares and frequent flyer upgrades canceled out the expensive last minute fares. I suspect the video is up on YouTube.
well, the FF upgrade doesn't cancel out expensive last minute fare, unless the FF upgrade took up all the space (bad revenue management)
that's one of the original ideals of domestic upgrades - inventory going to spoil once the aircraft takes off, make frequent flyer happy and upgrade them to an empty seat regardless