"Frank F. Matthews" wrote:

Actually I haven't seen many small aircraft and no empty flights in the
US for the past several years. The problems are a lack of revenue and
not a lack of passengers.

Load factors are at an all time high in the US as any frequent traveler can tell
you. Its yields that are down.

Translated: that means lots of people are flying, but not enough people are
buying those $800-$1000 last minute unrestricted tickets.

That's why NWA squawked so much when Delta dropped their max domestic fare to
$499.