Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
Excluding A fares is a disengenuous manipulation of the data to achieve a desired result. They have in fact been categorized as paid F fares by none other than Jeff Robertson himself.
If A (YUP) fares are available and people are buying them, then the A fare does indeed constitute the "going rate" for first-class, and people are obviously paying it.
Maybe you should go back to pumping Southwest. We're not half as stupid as you'd like for us to be.
I have never stated or implied that anyone is stupid and your suggestion is condescending and unfounded. Delta does sell A fares in select markets but not all. What percentage of people sitting up in front on all Delta mainline flights are on A or F fares? It is far fewer then you think. Take a look at the number of A seat inventory still open on flights leaving on key Delta routes leaving 48 hours from now--its a lot more then you think-- I still stand by my statement that the number of people paying for F class in the US is less then 10% and I will even include A seats since the price difference is very small. If Delta is the exception and is able to sell most of its F seats then more power to them but I doubt it due to the number of A seats still open for sale 48 hours before flight departures, the continued shift from domestic to an international emphasis and the lack of threads in FT about the difficulty PM's and GM's are having scoring upgrades.