Originally Posted by
Slammer
Actually the passenger revenue seat miles increased have increased. See latest report from company for 2011 and Jan 2012. UA and Delta have and are buying up capacity...and price hikes are ticking for now..
I don't know what number you're looking at but it isn't Revenue Passenger Miles. For 2011, the mainline RPMs were 181,763 million. For 2010, the mainline RPMs were 184,580 million. For 2011, the Regional RPMs were 25,768 million. For 2010, the regional RPMs were 25,961 million. Link:
United Continental Holdings, Inc. - Investor Relations - News=
For January 2012, the consolidated RPMs were 15,337,250. For January 2011, the consolidated RPMs were 15,836,192. Mainline RPMs declined in Jan but regional RPMs showed a slight increase. Link:
United Continental Holdings, Inc. - Investor Relations - News=
I'd break out the Delta numbers but you can see that they show the same thing.
Delta Air Lines Announces $379 Million Quarterly Profit and $1.2 Billion Annual Profit, Excluding Special Items - Jan 25, 2012
Delta Reports January Operational and Financial Performance - Feb 6, 2012
Edit: OK, I think you were looking at Passenger Revenue Per Available Seat Mile (PRASM). That's not a reflection of the number of passenger miles flown. RPMs, on the other hand, measure airline passenger traffic. My comments referred to matching flight availability to passenger demand so RPM is the correct measurement.