Originally Posted by
LarryJ
They would have spent most of that $340 in fuel even if your seats remained empty. The actual INCREASE in costs to UAL for having you on board is more likely in the $40 to $50 range which leaves them in a lot better shape with your $327 in revenue then without.
On my last flight (the only number that I remember at the moment) an additional 1,000# of weight would add 31# (4.6 gal) of fuel burn. The flight was about an hour. If you, and your bags, weigh 200# then that's roughly 0.9 gal of additional fuel per hour. Add in a bit for the consumables you ate/drank and you're right there in the $40-$50 range.
It's these kind of economics that lead to what appears to be wacky pricing. Adding a few passengers to a flight generally will not impact how much fuel they load, the number of crew, etc. The marginal cost of adding passengers is very low in general.
The airline is generally better off selling some seats at a low price to fill out the plane than let them go empty. The real key to profitablity is what's the "average" fare on the plane. If you have enough high fares,, the airline makes money and it makes sense to accept some low fares to top of the plane.
Where the airlines are getting hit right now is that some of the high fares are going away with reduced business travel combined with higer fuel costs. Dangerous mix.