Why are commuter flights so expensive?

Could it be because they have to file tariffs with regulatory agencies,
declaring their prices in advance?

Bob Gardner

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:fIspd.85397$V41.82999@attbi_s52...
Here's a mystery that I just cannot answer:

To fly to Las Vegas from Chicago costs $99.00. (For example.)

To fly to Cedar Rapids from Chicago costs $300.

Naturally, at that price practically no one flies on that plane into Cedar
Rapids.

Question: WHY do the airlines that fly into Cedar Rapids insist on flying
back and forth with mostly empty planes? Would it not make sense, say,
30 minutes before departure, to drop the price until the plane was full?
This is basic "Econ 101" -- if empty, lower the price until demand matches
supply.

Their actions seem to defy logic. In the lodging industry, you're going
to find rooms are discounted much more aggressively after 10 PM than they
are at 3 PM, simply because no innkeeper wants to sit empty, and the odds
of being able to charge full-rate at that time of day are slim. Yet no
airline seems to do it this way, at least on the short hops.

If it were MY airline, I'd sure as hell rather make a hundred bucks than
nothing!

There must be something else in play here -- anyone know?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article , Bob Gardner wrote:
Could it be because they have to file tariffs with regulatory agencies,
declaring their prices in advance?

Probably not. SouthWest airlines, at least, offers cheap last minute
fares to get the planes full. I often took advantage of this to take
trips to see friends in SLC which I otherwise would not have made.
Benefited me (cheap trip) and benefited SWA (they otherwise would have
had an empty seat).

Not surprising that the year after Sept 11, SWA were the only major to
make money. They were the only major with a clue, it seemed.

We have the same problem here with British Airways flying into Isle of
Man Ronaldsway. They charge a king's ransom especially for last minute
fares, and wonder why although traffic through the airport has increased
the last year, why their passenger loadings have fallen. I just hope
they don't wind up pulling out because they are the only airline that
does through ticketing from Ronaldsway to the US.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

In article , Bob Gardner wrote:

Could it be because they have to file tariffs with regulatory agencies,
declaring their prices in advance?

I thought that was what deregulation was about--removing that requirement.
If they really have to do that, then Northwurst must have a department with
thousands of people filing these constantly, since I see ticket prices for the
same leg change several times in an hour.

Of course, I have no idea what the requirements really are--I'm just
reporting my experience as a consumer (package, that is).

One possibility is that people on shorter hops might be better about actually
taking advantage of last-minute fares--maybe no one would buy and advance
ticket then. It sure does seem like a no-brainer, though.

Mike Beede