Originally Posted by
af fp
Slightly off-topic but probably not worth starting a new thread as it impacts the size of the offer and thus fares: although the cabins are empty AF has ramped up to three daily JFK rotations, four if one takes the DL codeshare into account. Any guess or insight in the point of doing this? Presence in the market? Further dampen the chances of the upcoming/returning competition of French Bee, Corsair, La Compagnie, AA and UA? Full loads of freight? Keep employees and planes active? Protect slots? Be ready for a quick (and unlikely in my view) re-opening and return of sustained business? Perceived prestige of the route?
I flew next to a "cabin crew inspector" (or whatever they call it) a few days ago.
We had a nice chat about the current airline situation, and when bringing up the question of near-empty long-haul flights, he said that the main reasons these days were 1) keeping the staff active 2) keeping track of actual demand.
Slots are apparently not much of a problem these days, and cargo by itself cannot make flights profitable as air shipping rates are almost back to normal.
Long story short, they are still hemorrhaging cash on each flown leg - but they don't have much choice if they want to keep the ball rolling and be there when traffic ramps up again.