Originally Posted by
Cujo665
Please cite an airline that went out of business for flying a small plane that was always full. CASM is only 1/2 the equation, and is only a valid comparison with equal percentage of seats full.... ie, RASM.
If they routinely sell an average of 45 seats on any given route, which plane makes money now? The 50 seater or the 76 seater? The smaller plane ends up with a higher RASM and it’s revenue that runs the show, not empty capacity. If CASM ran the show, every route would have an A380 on it.
Also remember that Via is not a FFD carrier; they’re more like an Allegiant or Sun country using smaller equipment on thinner routes. Smart actually.
I don't know if Via does this or not, but Allegiant makes a large percentage of it's profit on ancillary fees and services such as hotels, car rentals and other "vacation" package products. You can kind of look as the actual ticket as almost a loss leader to get you in the door.