Originally Posted by
Superpilot92
Just wait until the majors start making the regionals pay their own fuel bills. Things could very easily start going back to the way the "feeders" used to do business. XJT already started it back up again with some of the DAL flying out of LAX. Some of that flying is pro-rate and XJT is responsible for fuel and in some cases advertising. If the route isnt profitable neither is xjt, if it is then they both make money. Unlike today where if the planes are empty the regional still makes money as long as they complete the flights.
I'm not sure the majors will go that route. If they had to pay for their own fuel, regionals are not going to sign a contract that guarantees financial losses...they will raise their prices to cover fuel. Additionally, based on recent events, they will likely add some extra on top of that to account for unforseen fuel price hikes...sort of like hedging.
This means that majors who force their feeders to pay for fuel will have to pay a premium, putting them at a competetive disadavantage. Other majors might decide to just better manage their fuel price situation (hedging, etc), and take advantage of lower-priced feed.
Regionals are not in the business of participating in the marketplace...they are are very effecient (well in some cases) technical specialists. The general contractor worries about all the subs and the price of materiels. The drywall guy just installs the drywall...he doesn't usually provide it, or take economic risk based on it's market price.