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Billion-dollar airline routes

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Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#21

Post by ethbr0 »

hereforphone wrote: post #9
blakesterz wrote: post #7

> I like to board last. I’ve never understood the appeal of being on the plane any longer than I need too (I’m yet to travel in business class). I don't understand that opening at all. We all want to get on so we get space in the overhead bins, don't we? Maybe he just never has a bag, but the reason should be obvious regardless.

I'm the same. I stand around until the last minute. We're all getting there at the same time, and I'd rather be standing because soon I have to sit for hours. My bag fits nicely under the seat in front of me.

I flew most domestic US when I was in the air, and rarely did I need more than under-seat sized.

If you have a garment bag, I suppose that's a consideration, but I remember there always being "lay on top" free space in the overheads, even if full of bags.

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#22

Post by caymanjim »

blakesterz wrote: post #7

> I like to board last. I’ve never understood the appeal of being on the plane any longer than I need too (I’m yet to travel in business class). I don't understand that opening at all. We all want to get on so we get space in the overhead bins, don't we? Maybe he just never has a bag, but the reason should be obvious regardless.

I've flown over 100 times and only once had to gate-check my bag due to insufficient space. I was thankful for the chance because it's free, you get your bag faster on landing, and you don't have to wrangle it down the aisle.

I always board as late as possible. Why sit in a hot/cold/stuffy plane while people jostle all around you?

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#23

Post by tcskeptic »

drc500free wrote: post #8

I don't understand why the cursory math of someone with no domain knowledge, business understanding, or access to accurate data is at all interesting.

I had the same reaction -- I don't follow the industry much but know that Business class accounts for an outside proportion of revenue and profit for the airlines... which doesn't seem to be addressed at all.

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#24

Post by darkwizard42 »

hereforphone wrote: post #9
blakesterz wrote: post #7

> I like to board last. I’ve never understood the appeal of being on the plane any longer than I need too (I’m yet to travel in business class). I don't understand that opening at all. We all want to get on so we get space in the overhead bins, don't we? Maybe he just never has a bag, but the reason should be obvious regardless.

I'm the same. I stand around until the last minute. We're all getting there at the same time, and I'd rather be standing because soon I have to sit for hours. My bag fits nicely under the seat in front of me.

But then where do your feet go when you want to stretch out? I find it terribly annoying to have to keep adjusting my bag when I want to stretch out or sit normally (knees bent)

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#25

Post by zz865 »

blakesterz wrote: post #7

> I like to board last. I’ve never understood the appeal of being on the plane any longer than I need too (I’m yet to travel in business class). I don't understand that opening at all. We all want to get on so we get space in the overhead bins, don't we? Maybe he just never has a bag, but the reason should be obvious regardless.

I hate US-sized hand luggage. Boarding an American plane is like being in a storage locker where people carrying these suitcases fight for bin space.

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#26

Post by nwatson »

blakesterz wrote: post #7

> I like to board last. I’ve never understood the appeal of being on the plane any longer than I need too (I’m yet to travel in business class). I don't understand that opening at all. We all want to get on so we get space in the overhead bins, don't we? Maybe he just never has a bag, but the reason should be obvious regardless.

If you're last on board and you see those three seats together you can always pretend your seat is the middle one of those three.

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#27

Post by hereforphone »

darkwizard42 wrote: post #24
hereforphone wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the same. I stand around until the last minute. We're all getting there at the same time, and I'd rather be standing because soon I have to sit for hours. My bag fits nicely under the seat in front of me.

But then where do your feet go when you want to stretch out? I find it terribly annoying to have to keep adjusting my bag when I want to stretch out or sit normally (knees bent)

I'm slender and not very tall. I rarely have an issue.

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#28

Post by enahs-sf »

I wonder how route profitability comes into play with those airlines running older planes (old 737's, etc) that may break more frequently.

AOG (airplane on ground) is essentially a broken plane stuck at a gate getting fined massively by the airport because it is blocking a gate. In this situation, usually price elasticity of demand goes out the window with respect to airplane parts because what you'll pay in markup pales in comparison to what you'll pay in fines.

Is it more profitable to get new planes or run older ones into the ground? The answer to this question is beyond my depth.

Source: my first job out of school was SQL jockey for an airplane parts distributor running reports for the guys trying to predict which parts would be needed. The company had 4 guys and two vans on standby 24/7 to run parts to the airport. This was a very profitable business segment.

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#29

Post by cstejerean »

zz865 wrote: post #25
blakesterz wrote: post #7

> I like to board last. I’ve never understood the appeal of being on the plane any longer than I need too (I’m yet to travel in business class). I don't understand that opening at all. We all want to get on so we get space in the overhead bins, don't we? Maybe he just never has a bag, but the reason should be obvious regardless.

I hate US-sized hand luggage. Boarding an American plane is like being in a storage locker where people carrying these suitcases fight for bin space.

I remember a time before the last recession when none of the major airlines charged for checked bags. The major US airlines added those fees around 2008 IIRC to pad their bottom line and predictably people started cramming more into carry on bags, making the whole process more miserable.

Re: Billion-dollar airline routes

#30

Post by jwcacces »

caymanjim wrote: post #22
blakesterz wrote: post #7

> I like to board last. I’ve never understood the appeal of being on the plane any longer than I need too (I’m yet to travel in business class). I don't understand that opening at all. We all want to get on so we get space in the overhead bins, don't we? Maybe he just never has a bag, but the reason should be obvious regardless.

I've flown over 100 times and only once had to gate-check my bag due to insufficient space. I was thankful for the chance because it's free, you get your bag faster on landing, and you don't have to wrangle it down the aisle. I always board as late as possible. Why sit in a hot/cold/stuffy plane while people jostle all around you?

Haha, lucky you. I might not fly as much as you, but in my experience the moment a bag leaves my line of sight, the chance it gets lost leaps dramatically. As someone who's had checked bags lost, and gate-checked bags lost, the ability to get on earlier translates directly into peace of mind that my bag will be with me when I land.

As for getting my bag faster if it was gate-checked, how does that happen? Every time I've been gate-checked, my luggage ends up down in baggage claim the same as if I had regular-checked it. The only luggage that has met me at the gate has been a stroller.

Maybe I'm just flying cheap airlines, but I'll take first on and sitting in a stuffy plane over the chance of disaster and standing in the terminal any day of the week. You're waiting the same amount of time either way wherever you are.

But hey, your yin and my yang work great together, so you do you!

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