I noticed last year Group 9 basic economy was maybe 5-10 folks per flight. On my commutes I've been counting as they board and I'm running around 30% maybe 40%. Groups 1-5 are business folks for the most part and take about 1/4 to 1/3 of the plane, then a small amount of Group 6-8 which is mostly full fare paying coach, then Group 9 BE filling in the rest.

I agree that adding so much BE pax will dilute your business. The real question is with the growth of the ULCCs, do they have a choice? I don't think so.

Maybe they just need to do a better job sectioning off the cabin. Make BE the back 30% of seats and make it exactly like Spirit.

The problem with AA going full on BE a la pull a Frontier is our costs are double on a per mile basis what Spirit and Frontier are.