Originally Posted by
moondog
Let's say you're a Chinese person trying to decide where to go on vacation and your candidate destinations are Paris, Madrid, Sydney, and New York. Round trip nonstop flights to the first three cities cost $600, while New York is $1800 and getting there requires a double red eye; on the way back, you'll be leaving at 6a to fly across the country before jumping on the 14 hour final leg. Would you honestly pick New York?
I'm sure there's a price that would induce demand to make the planes 100% full, but apparently United doesn't want to offer tickets at it.
But in the old days there used to be many times more flights than there are today, and yet current flights seem empty. So I have a hard time reconciling the idea that there is so much demand that United should 3x (or whatever) capacity, while the supposed high demand doesn't seem to fill planes. Usually if there's high demand then it sells the seats, even if prices are high, because some percentage of people will fly at any cost. Look at UA transcons - J goes out full with paid tickets, many at full J prices, almost every flight.
I think it's worth considering that there are other factors at play here than how many planes United is flying.