Originally Posted by
Slaphappy
Efficiency is more than just the number of people you can haul around, it's also about the time and cost.
Yes. A HUGE factor is the hourly cost of the staff/crew. Airlines actually optimize cruise flight speed to account for the costs of the crew... to the point where the computer might plan a faster cruise speed if the crew is very senior (and has a higher hourly rate). A more junior crew on the same flight might get a slower speed assigned to save fuel.
A train on a 1000+ mile run is going to account for a lot more crew/staff man-hours than a jet.