Full Flights
 

As I mentioned in a previous post on a different thread, I have been flying American, Delta, and America West recently. Those flights reminded me of flying several years ago with all the open space on the planes. Most of the rows had the middle seats open. Not being elite on those carriers I noticed that their first class cabin was not full. These carriers understand that the passengers need to be somewhat comfortable.

Now let's talk about Continental: Every flight is packed full. This is good for shareholders but very bad for passengers and even worse for Elites as the first class cabin is being sold due to the full flights. Why or better yet WHEN will Continental add capacity? I am not an economist, but I would be willing to bet that the company does not need to fly every flight full to make a profit. I would be willing to bet that they could fly somewhere north of 65% and still turn a profit.

Here are some advantages if Continental would add capacity:
1. More comfort for all passengers.
2. More availability in First Class for paying customers as well as Elite.
3. More revenue for the company.
4. More repeat business due to number 1 and 2 above.

I for one and sick and tired of boarding full flights. I am paying more to purchase my tickets to be upgraded. In most cased (less than half) I am upgraded. And yes I am Platinum with well over 100,000 flown this year.

Come on Continental: Step up and do the right thing.

At current fares, CO actually needs to fill more like 85% of seats to break even. The November estimate for consolidated breakeven load factor is 86% (see http://www.continental.com/company/investor/news.asp). For October the estimate was 90%. So yes, while less full planes would be nice, I don't think it can easily be done at a profit at the current mix of fuel prices, overhead, and fares.

I am 100% sure that these carriers would be filling their planes completely full if they could.

The upside of the full flights is bumps. The past year has been a banner year for bumps for me, particularly on CO. After having gone through 2-year CO bump dry spell, this year has earned me and my gf about $5,000 in CO vouchers. Add the other airline vouchers to the mix, and we're over $7,000 in bumps + 4 free tix in the past 12 months. And I even turned down a few due to schedule requirements. :eek:

I say keep filling those planes! It makes both me and CO happy. ;)

You don't honestly think that AA, DL and AW are deliberately aiming for lower load factors to make passengers feel comfortable? That they've made a strategic decision to fly empty seats around and forego the associated revenue in the hope of deriving more revenue from the pax they've got?

No.

As channa points out no airline can make money on today's tariffs at 65%. Even on CO, which has a lot of premium traffic, the break-even point is 85 to 90 percent... (on Independence Air right now it's well north of 100%!)

Show me an airline where people are stretching out over empty seats and I'll show you an airline a lot closer to bankruptcy than CO. Note DL's and HP/US's current status.

If CO is less comfortable due to full flights why do you continue to fly them?

I'm not being confrontational or flippant. Answering the above question will explain WHY their flights are full and people continue to fly CO when they could be on a AA, DL or UA jet with empty seats.

To me, flying with a crew with a good attitude, getting there on time with my luggage, flying on a plane that's less than 15 yrs old---- all of that makes up for the fact that I don't have an empty middle seat next to me.

Not to mention that I worry less about CO going belly up and my OnePass miles going away if they're making money.

No way
 

Nobody is going to add capacity (read capital investment) until they're consistently turning a profit, for several quarters, and think that the $$ millions spent on a plane & crews will be paid back, with a profit, soon.

So if jet fuel prices stay up and fares stay down, no way.

If 2 major carriers close their doors (can you spell UA, US, HP, DL, NW? ) due to bankrupcy, then the survivors will jack up fares, buy used planes for a "song" :D , hire trained pilots & FA at low starting wages, and add flights. BUT... the travelling public will be crammed on fewer carriers. Higher fares, more empty seats.

If comfort would make more profit, they'd put in fewer, wider, longer seats. I remember an all first class airline in the early 80's... long defunct.

break even load factor on DH is 109%. ;)

"We lose money on every sale but make it up on volume."
:D :D :D

CO has a pretty good revenue management system. The prices vary widely over time. They are actually high for advance purchase way in advance. These days you might get a better deal buying a week before - if the flight is light. I think what CO is doing is selling unsold seats at low prices - likely competing on Orbitz were cost sensitive folks can compare a week before. This process fills up the seats with otherwise no revenue. CO does this too on international flights - I believe through brokers.

Except that DH have also just cut around 50% of their flights, so even that wasn't working, apparently!

You're right...
 

...you're not an economist?!? :confused: