<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Tino:
First, one of the Big 6 airlines is profitable. That's Southwest. The remaining 5 losers (AA, UA, NW, CO, DAL) are the ones with the bloated cost structures, inefficient operations and maddening pricing complexity.
Why is it that JetBlue, SWA and AirTran are profitable?</font>
There're many ways people rank airlines. My way of doing so is by the seat-mile. I believe the last time I saw the stat, USAir is still the #6 while SWA is only #7. When you rank the passenger count, SWA is #3 I believe.
Anyway, the main reason why SWA and JetBlue are profitable is due to the lower cost structure. Many factors contribute to the cost - and surprise enough FFP is actually one of them. Nobody can award double miles (and above) for sub $200 C-C RT. Not even SWA.
JetBlue doesn't even have a FFP until a couple months ago. And IMO, even after the cut, FFP on the majors are still better than the Rapid Rewards and True Blue. ATA's FFP, which directly ties to the revenue, also caters to the higher paying pax.