Originally Posted by
cadetdrivr
I agree, but it's not decades, just the last several years.
Prior to the merger, UAL and DAL were neck and neck at the top.
Q2 2010 (When the UAL/CAL merger was announced)
RASM:
United: 11.96
Delta: 11.94
American: 11.14
US Airways: 11.04
Continental: 10.94
AirTran: 10.13
JetBlue: 9.78
Yield per RPM:
Delta: 14.05
United: 14.03
American: 13.28
US Airways: 13.11
Continental: 12.87
AirTran: 12.19
JetBlue: 11.93
Then FLIBS did his magic and we are still picking up the pieces. The business customers fled when the proverbial "pizza was made so cheap nobody would buy it." This includes both the onboard product and operational stats. "The flight sucked but at least it was late."
We have improved our operation and product drastically but the damage has been done as the perception as not caught up to the reality. Yet.
DAL captured business customers from weak competitors. That's not the case for UAL as it tries to get them back.
Good post but when I say decades I mean back to the good old days. DAL has always beat UAL in the long run, and for the most part led the industry in wages. Even in BK they got a far bigger pay out the we.
The data you posted is basically a small window in the history of UAL vs DAL, but it shows the potential of the new UAL and where we can go.