UNITED AIR LINES TO LAY OFF 950 PILOTS

On Jun 29, 8:31*pm, Mxsmanic wrote:
terry writes:
Economics 101 *fixed costs and variable costs. * fuel use per pax per
mile ( the main *variable cost in running an airline ) *decreasses
significantly for any aircraft as no of pax increases. *so its pretty
obvious that flying airliners with MT seats becomes less sensible as
fuel prices rise.

But pax numbers were not mentioned. *All else being equal, fewer flights
equals less utilization of assets. *If pax numbers per flight are also
changed, that has to be specified.

Only if we are discussing a problem in the back of a high school text
book. but this discussion is about the reality of what is happening
outside your apartment. How often do you fly on an airline.? I have
rarely been on a flight that is full, most airlines fly to a schedule
whereby the aircraft leaves regardless of how many passengers are on
the flight. there is a minimum number of pax for break even. as the
price of fuel has gone up , that number of pax has to go up in the
absense of fare increases , which are limited by what people are
prepared to pay. It logically follows that it becomes an economical
use of assets to reduce the number of flights and maximise bums on
seats, even if that means mothballing aircraft.