Originally Posted by
Itsajob
I don’t think that United wants a bunch of tired 50 seat jets. They’re simply stuck with them because they’re maxed out on scope. The Max starts operating in 2 weeks. They’re 161 on the way and each one can replace the available seats of 3.5 rj’s. The pilots can be had for the cost of an interview. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
Depends on the operating cost versus revenue on each leg. There are two methods, cost per available seat mile (CASM)/RASM, and cost/leg. If the former were always best you would have 777's operating on every leg, but it's not. A 777 with 40 seats filled will lose money while an ERJ with 40 seats filled will probably make money. Same with smaller airplanes. At a certain point, it does make sense to go with the bigger airplane- that's why DAL regularly flys 777s between ATL-ORF (or used to). But sometimes it makes sense to go with a smaller airplane. Of course, oil costs will play a factor. Only 5 years ago the 50 seats were dead, now they are coming out of the desert as fast as they can be manned. End of the year? Who knows.